What is the role of analytical microbiology in food?

Question

What is the role of analytical microbiology in food?

Answer 1

Different foods are regularly tested by microbiologists to look for contamination with bacteria. If you suspect that a food contains a specific organism eg. salmonella, then you would just test for that, however some foods have what is known as a coliform count performed on them, which is testing a small amount of the food and counting any bacteria that grow from it. Coliforms come from your bowel and any growing suggests faecal contamination and each food has an acceptable range that it should fall into. For example lettuce may be permitted to have a coliform count of less than 100, this is safe. More than 100 bacterial colonies growing means that the food is contaminated with faeces and is not safe to eat