High Yeast Count in Cooked Bacon

Hi All 

I have just received a micro report from our lab and it has come back clear for everything (yay) but the yeast is count is coming back at <100 when it should be <20 or <50. Can any one offer some advise or wisdom as to why that is?

Thanks a mill

Siobhan 

Hi Siobhan,

Have you confirmed with the lab what <100 actually means?

This could mean that the count is actually 1 which is <20. It will depend on how the lab is processing/diluting the samples in order to plate out and incubate the plates.

If they are making an initial 1:100 dilution and plating this then any plate with no growth would be reported as <100 given the initial product dilution.

Speak to the lab and find out the dilution process - you may want to ask them the run a 1:10 plate which will give you results that you can relate to your specification

S

SpursGirl hit this on the nose. Siobhan if your limit is <20 or <50, you need to relay that to the lab that is doing the testing so they know how to perform the test. This will most likely change the method. Sometimes it may require going to MPN rather than cfu. Make sure the lab is on the same page as you on all your required test, after all you are paying them for a service.

Agree with above posts...you need to specify your limits to the lab first and see what there method of reporting actually means before you worry about yeasts :)

Dear Siobhan,

<20 X/Y, <50 X/Y

It sounds like yr specification is (optimistically?)  "undetected" which is notorious for creating user/laboratory confusion.

It is also possible that the lab. results for 1 in 10 dilution were found to be unreadable due to food particles or spreaders :smile: . Hence > 1 in 100. Strictly speaking, micro. texts often comment that for a spec. of < 100cfu/gram, quantitative data is preferably derived from MPN methods. Less profitable for the lab of course. :smile:

Rgds / Charles.C