Chromocult® Coliform Agar & Chromocult® Coliform Agar ES with AOAC RI approval
Coliforms are plentiful in the feces of warm-blooded animals. In most cases, they are not the cause of sickness; however, their presence is an indicator of insufficient hygiene during processing or production. Merck’s Chromocult® culture media enable the rapid identification of these indicator organisms. Both Chromocult® Coliform Agar and Chromocult® Coliform Agar ES from Merck are now approved by the AOAC Research Institute for use in food manufacture.
| Your benefits: |
|---|
|
Performance tested by AOAC research institute
Chromocult® agars were tested thoroughly by the AOAC Research Institute. A test on three processed foods and a test on three fresh foods showed that Chromocult® Coliform Agar and Chromocult® Coliform Agar ES demonstrate 100% equivalence to the AOAC official method 966.24. This AOAC official method detects and enumerates E. coli and Coliform bacteria by using lauryl sulfate broth and EC broth and needs up to 48 hours to yield results. In contrast, Chromocult® Coliform Agars deliver results within 24 hours.
Chromocult® Coliform Agar for processed food
Chromocult® Coliform Agar is a selective agar for the simultaneous detection of total coliforms and E. coli in drinking water and in processed food samples. The manufacturing process of food and water often results in the damage or reduction of micro-organisms. The strong inhibitors, such as bile salts, in traditional media for coliforms and E. coli may limit the growth of sublethally damaged target organisms.
Chromocult® Coliform Agar contains Tergitol 7 as an inhibitor of gram-positive bacteria, but has no negative effect on the growth of targeted coliforms or E. coli. The performance was tested and approved by the USEPA analysis of water and AOAC for processed foods.
Chromocult® Coliform Agar ES for fresh food
Chromocult® Coliform Agar Enhanced Selectivity is used for the detection and colony count of total coliforms and E. coli in non-processed foods as well as surface water samples. Fresh foods usually contain a high number of micro-organisms and generally do not contain stressed or damaged bacteria. The high level of accompanying flora requires higher selectivity of the culture medium to ensure the inhibition of these unwanted bacteria.
Chromocult® Coliform Agar ES contains a combination of bile salts and propionate instead of Tergitol 7. This largely inhibits unwanted background flora.
