TEMPO EC for the enumeration of Escherichia coli in foods: collaborative study.
The automated method for enumeration of Escherichia coli, TEMPO EC, in foods uses a dehydrated culture medium and enumeration card containing 48 wells across three different dilutions for the automatic determination of the most probable number (MPN). The alternative method was compared in a multilaboratory collaborative study to AOAC Official Method 966.24. Six food types were artificially contaminated with E. coli: raw ground beef, bagged lettuce, cooked chicken, pasteurized crabmeat, frozen green beans, and pasteurized whole milk. All foods were analyzed for E. coli counts by 11 collaborating laboratories throughout the United States. Test portions from the six food types each contaminated at four different contamination levels were evaluated. The study demonstrated that the TEMPO EC method is a reliable, automated assay for the enumeration of E. coli in foods.
Crowley
Erin
E
Q Laboratories, Inc., 1400 Harrison Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45214, USA.
Bird
Patrick
P
Torontali
Marianne
M
Goetz
Katherine
K
Agin
James
J
Goins
David
D
Johnson
Ronald
R
Achen
M
M
Barlowe
A
A
Clark
M
M
Colón-Reveles
J
J
Dixon
K
K
Fisher
K
K
Hanson
P
P
Jechorek
R
R
Johnson
L
L
Kelly
M
M
Kim
S
S
Kohler
H
H
Kondratko
D
D
Kupski
B
B
McCallum
K
K
Mills
J
J
Mohnke
F
F
Moon
B
B
Olson
B
B
Reed
C
C
Sauter
J
J
Thompson
L
L
D000818:Animals; D001331:Automation; D002417:Cattle; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism*; D005504:Food Analysis; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D017747:Seafood / Q000382:microbiology; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology