Aerobic Colony Count (Aerobic Bacteria Count)
One of the important processes of the food quality control program is the aerobic colony count or aerobic bacteria count. Aerobic colony count is defined as the total number of bacteria in the presence of oxygen or that can grow in an aerobic environment. This is one of the most common tests applied to express the microbial quality of foodstuffs, not their safety.Microbiological analyzes performed in advanced laboratories include: indicator bacteria screening, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, escherichia coli screening and aerobic colony count.
The importance of aerobic colony counting is that it varies with the type of foodstuff and the treatment applied. Especially when considering the diversity of food products and production methods, a good understanding of the product type is required in order to fully interpret the aerobic colony count. When sampling, it should be determined whether the food consists entirely of cooked ingredients or contains a mixture of cooked and raw ready-made ingredients. Knowing what ingredients a food consists of and how it is cooked helps to interpret test results correctly. Without this information, aerobic colony count results are misleading.
Another factor to consider is the shelf life of the product. Because foodstuffs sampled close to their shelf life will likely be close to the upper limit.
Aerobic colony count results do not apply to raw foods such as fruits and vegetables, cultured products, or fermented foods. Because these foods are naturally high in value.
