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To improve enrichment and isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7, this study evaluated increased incubation temperature and cefixime-tellurite (CT) on five strains of each of the following bacteria, E. coli, Hafnia alvei, Enterobacter spp., Citrobacter freundii and E. coli O157:H7, and two strains of E. coli O157:nH7. These were grown in pure culture in LST broth with varying cefixime-tellurite concentrations. A range of incubation temperatures from 37 to 46 degrees C was investigated for the inhibition of cohabitant microorganisms. Minced beef, spiked with E. coli O157:H7 and cohabitant microorganisms was investigated. Increased incubation temperature (42 degrees C) and treatment with half of the prescribed amount of cefixime-tellurite by BAM for SMAC agar in enrichment step were the most effective in selectively growing E. coli O157:H7. The results show that E. coli O157:H7 is more resistant to these two conditions than the other cohabitant bacteria.

For much of the twentieth century, coliform bacteria and especially Escherichia coli have been used as indicators of possible post-processing contamination and the presence of E. coli as an indicator of fecal contamination in foods. In this study, 500 foods in 10 different groups, mainly dairy products, delicatessen products, salads, spices, cream cakes and fresh fruit and vegetable samples, were analyzed for the natural contamination of fecal coliforms and E. coli by the standard most probable number (MPN) method. The difference between weighted means of fecal coliforms and E. coli counts were only 0.246 log10 MPN/g-ml (MPN/gram for solid samples, and MPN/milliliter for liquids). Enumeration results were also evaluated by Pearson's correlation coefficient ( r), Cronbach's alpha (α) and determination coefficient ( r 2) analysis. According to results, although 33 samples contained only non- E. coli fecal coliforms, the results of reliability analyses indicated that fecal coliform counts and E. coli counts may be used interchangeably ( P

An assay to screen Escherichia coli in foods using MUG supplemented lauryl sulfate tryptose (LST) broth instead of tryptone water (TW) medium was evaluated. The results presented in this paper suggest that this method is more sensitive for lower levels of E. coli, faster (16-18 h vs. 6-10 days) and less expensive (2.454 vs. 2.887 EURO/sample) than the standard ISO procedure. Thus, this method may be beneficial for use when both fecal coliforms and E. coli analyses are required in food systems.

255 minced beef, 101 soudjouk and 50 uncooked hamburger samples were analyzed for the presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 serotype. m-EC and LST broths were used as selective enrichment media and SMAC agar was used as a selective isolation medium. A total of 3 E. coli O157 were isolated by conventional culture techniques; one from each of minced beef, uncooked hamburger and soudjouk but none were identified as the H7 serotype. For determination of selective media-growing cohabitant bacteria, 2645 isolates were obtained from SMAC agar. Results showed that E. coli type 1, Hafnia alvei and Citrobacter freundii were dominant competitive flora. As selective enrichment broth-growing cohabitant microflora existed at higher levels, it was too difficult to isolate E. coli O157 from these mixed flora. Therefore, conventional methods are not suitable for these types of products, because of isolation difficulties and failure to confirm.