International Commission On Microbiological Specifications For Foods Research Articles

Bacteriological Quality of Fresh Seafood Products from Seattle Retail Markets

A microbiological survey of 287 (fresh) seafood products from Puget Sound retail markets was conducted over a period of 1 year. The microbiological quality of fresh seafood was high, with only 2.1 % of the samples exceeding the maximum limit for acceptability as suggested by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF). The overall microbiological data of positive units given as arithmetic means were: coliforms MPN/g, 199; Escherichia coli MPN/g, 21; coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus MPN/g, 66; enterococci/g, 9121; Clostridium perfringens/g, 18; Bacillus cereus/g, 100; and Vibrio parahaemolyticus MPN/g, 3.7. The standard plate count means 1.0 × 103 to 2.5 × 107 colony-forming units (CFU)/g, giving a mean value of 2.0 × 105 CFU/g. The percentages of seafood samples positive for pathogens were S. aureus, 37.6; Yersinia enterocolitica, 3.8; V. parahaemolyticus, 2.8; C. perfringens, 2.4; and B. cereus, 0.7. Vibrio cholerae, Clostridium botulinum, Salmonella and Shigella species were not isolated.

International Perspectives for Microbiological Sampling and Testing of Foods

The 3-class acceptance plan, developed by the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF), is an important innovation which, by accommodating a tolerable number of microbiological values that may appear to exceed an ideal limit, recognizes normal distribution ranges and thereby removes a major prejudice against the use of microbiological criteria for appraising food quality. The plan has gained wide acceptance in the 7 years since it was proposed and will likely be even more broadly accepted in the future. Three-class plans are used in official standards or in working guidelines in several countries and in recommended microbiological specifications in Codex codes of hygienic practice for egg products, foods for infants and children, and pre-cooked shrimps and prawns. This paper explains the principles of the 3-class acceptance plan and provides information on the structure and function of the ICMSF.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:Animal Microbiology Volume 1 (1977). Immunology, Bacteriology, Mycology, Diseases of Fish and Laboratory Methods. A. Buxton and G. Fraser.Animal Microbiology Volume 2 (1977). Rickettsias and Viruses. A. Buxton and G. Fraser.Micro‐organisms in Foods 1. Their Significance and Methods of Enumeration (1978). 2nd Edn. A publication of the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) of the International Association of Microbiological Societies.Soil Organisms as Components of Ecosystems (1977). Proceedings of the 6th International Colloquium on Soil Zoology. Ecological Bulletin (Stockholm)25. Edited by U. Lohm and T. Persson.Biotechnology and Fungal Differentiation (1977). Edited by J. Meyrath and J. D. Bu'lock. Federation of European Microbiological Societies Symposium.