Acceptable limit for Coliform/Fecal Coliform for Ready-to-eat Foods
Hi,
Anyone here who may know what is the acceptable limit for coliform & fecal coliform for ready-to-eat foods? Appreciate if you could also share any references pertaining to the topic. Thanks.
Cheers,
Cath
Hi,
Anyone here who may know what is the acceptable limit for coliform & fecal coliform for ready-to-eat foods? Appreciate if you could also share any references pertaining to the topic. Thanks.
Cheers,
Cath
Hi catherine,
I assume you mean official/reference textbook standard.
Are you aware that official Philippine Food Micro.Standards exist ?
Product ?
Location ?
Coliform is not directly safety-related. Sometimes <100cfu/g but afaik this is just an empirical hygiene opinion.
Fecal coliform is sort of obsolete. Recommend to replace by generic E.coli.
Hi Charles,
Thanks for your response. My reply in blue font below.
Hi catherine,
I assume you mean official/reference textbook standard. Yes, that's correct.
Are you aware that official Philippine Food Micro.Standards exist ? You mean the one issued by the Philippine FDA? I saw this already but it's for various manufactured / produced pproducts. Not for ready-to-eat / cooked food (i.e. viand prepared by a caterer).
Product ? Ready-to-eat food (i.e. pandan chicken, fried rice, etc.)
Location ? (Kitchen commissary)
Coliform is not directly safety-related. Sometimes <100cfu/g but afaik this is just an empirical hygiene opinion.
Fecal coliform is sort of obsolete. Recommend to replace by generic E.coli. I see. Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.
Catherine
Hi catherine,
I assume you mean official/reference textbook standard.
Are you aware that official Philippine Food Micro.Standards exist ?
Product ?
Location ?
Coliform is not directly safety-related. Sometimes <100cfu/g but afaik this is just an empirical hygiene opinion.
Fecal coliform is sort of obsolete. Recommend to replace by generic E.coli.
Hi,
May I have last question? An RTE food lab result with a Coliform Count of 150 MPN & Fecal Coliform Count of 150, is this considered a failed result and indicative of a food safety risk?
Thanks for your possible answer.
Cheers,
Catherine
Dear Catherine,
In addition to the information above, just a note that for certain export countries, Fecal coliforms in Ready-to-eat foods can be an issue as well (for example Japan).
Kind regards,
Gerard Heerkens
Hi,
May I have last question? An RTE food lab result with a Coliform Count of 150 MPN & Fecal Coliform Count of 150, is this considered a failed result and indicative of a food safety risk?
Thanks for your possible answer.
Cheers,
Catherine
Hi Catherine,
Apologies late reply. Never saw yr Post.
It's questionable to make a decision based only on one result. Additionally the factors are not specific pathogens. And the product type is unknown.
Commonly used accept/reject criteria, as you probably know, often use the nmMc system where n = 5.
Regardless, assuming the data mentioned is from a validated method, the results would probably be considered "high" for many foods.
Dear Catherine,
In addition to the information above, just a note that for certain export countries, Fecal coliforms in Ready-to-eat foods can be an issue as well (for example Japan).
Kind regards,
Gerard Heerkens
Thanks Gerard for that info.
Hi Catherine,
You're welcome ! Have a nice day !
Kind regards,
Gerard