Aerobic Plate Count/ Standard Plate Count Expression of results A.

Computing and recording counts1 When computing the SPC (plate in countable range 25-250 cfu/ ml or gm), report only the first 2 significant digits to avoid creating a fictitious impression of precision and accuracy. When making this conversion, round off to 2 significant figures by raising the second digit to the next highest number when the third digit is 6, 7, 8, or 9 and by rounding down when the third digits is 1, 2, 3, or 4. When the third digit is 5, round up if the second digit is odd and round down when the second digit is even. Use zeroes for each successive digit toward the right from the second digit. In other words, round to the nearest even 2 digit number along with the appropriate number of zeros. Example Actual count Reported count 12,700 13,000 12,400 15,500 14,500 B. 12,000 16,000 14,000

Sequential plate with 25-250 colonies: Calculate the SPC as follows

N = Number of colonies per ml or g of product c = Sum of all colonies on all plates counted n1 = Number of plates in first dilution counted n2 = Number of plates in second dilution counted d = Dilution from which the first counts were obtained Example2 10-2 10-3 232 33 244 28

= 537 0.022 =24,409 24,000 =2.4 x 104cfu/ml (g) When counts of duplicate plates fall within and without the 25-250 colony range use only those counts that fall within this range.

C.

Both plates with fewer than 25 colonies: When the plates from both dilutions yield fewer than 25 colonies each, record the count as less than 25 times is the reciprocal of the dilution of the dilution (25 x 1/d) when d is the dilution factor for the dilution from which the first counts were obtained. Example2 10-2 18 0 N=<25 x 102 =<2.5 x 103ESPC/ml (g) ***ESPC= Estimate standard plate count 10-3 2 0

D.

All plates with more than 250 colonies: When plates from both dilutions yield more than 250 colonies each (but fewer than 100/cm2), estimate counts from the plates nearest 250 and multiply by the dilution. Example2 10-2 TNTC N=640 x 103 =6.4 x 105ESPC/ml (g) TNTC=Too Numerous To Count 10-3 640

E.

All plates with more than an average of 100 colonies per square cm: Estimate the SPC as greater than 100 times highest dilution plated, times the area of the plate. The examples below have an average count of 110/ sq cm. Example1 10-2 TNTC

10-3 7,150

Based on plate area of 65cm2 (9 cm diameter) report ESPC/ ml (g ) as: N= >6,500,000 = >6.5 x 106ESPC/ ml (g) F. All plates with spreaders. Report respectively as SPR (Spread)