Comparison of TEMPO^®EC and TBX medium for the enumeration ofEscherichia coliin cheese

Abstract

Aims: TEMPO® EC (Escherichia coli) is based on glucuronidase activity and is a test for use with the TEMPO system for the automated 24 h enumeration of E. coli in food products. In this study, TEMPO EC was compared with TBX medium, the current standard plate method for the enumeration of E. coli in cheese. Methods and Results: For comparative purposes, both naturally (92) and artificially contaminated (31) cheese samples were studied. Pearson correlation coefficients were determined as 0.954 and 0.978 between the two methods for naturally and artificially contaminated samples, respectively. Regression analysis yielded the following equations: log10 TEMPO EC = 0.340 + 0.889 log10 TBX medium and log10 TEMPO EC = 0.174 + 0.899 log10 TBX medium for naturally and artificially contaminated samples, respectively. In general, absolute differences did not exceed one log between results obtained by the two methods. Conclusions: Statistical analysis of the results showed good agreement between the two enumeration methods. Significance and Impact of the Study: TEMPO EC is a practical and reliable alternative to the current standard plate method for the enumeration of E. coli in foods.

Enumeration of micro-organisms in processed soy products with an automated most probable number method compared with standard plate method

“…The automated TEMPO system has been developed to replace the disadvantages of the traditional MPN method. Previous studies have shown that there is a remarkable correlation between the TEMPO and standard methods in various naturally contaminated samples at the same culture conditions (Paulsen et al 2006(Paulsen et al , 2008Kunicka 2007;Kobayashi et al 2008;Torlak et al 2008;Crowley et al 2009Crowley et al , 2010Owen et al 2010). Therefore, the culture condition on the detection might not influence the experimental data even if there might be some difference in growth rate and the injury of bacteria.…”

“…TEMPO is an automated system based on the most probable number (MPN) method for enumeration of aerobic bacteria and specific pathogens in foods (Paulsen et al 2006(Paulsen et al , 2008Kunicka 2007;Kobayashi et al 2008;Torlak et al 2008;Crowley et al 2009Crowley et al , 2010Owen et al 2010). It is seen as an internationally recognized method validated by EN ISO 16140 and the AOAC Research Institute and has been evaluated in various kinds of food matrices (Crowley et al 2009(Crowley et al , 2010Jasson et al 2010).…”

Comparison of an Automated Most-Probable-Number Technique with Traditional Plating Methods for Estimating Populations of Total Aerobes, Coliforms, and Escherichia coli Associated with Freshly Processed Broiler Chickens

“…Other researchers have compared the TEMPO automated MPN procedure with traditional methods for enumeration of aerobic mesophiles or Enterobacteriaceae from various foods (2,8,9,13) and enumeration of E. coli from cheese or other foods (1,15). Generally, the agreement between the enumeration methods has been close.…”

Short communication: Appropriate and alternative methods to determine viable bacterial counts in cow milk samples

“…The ready-to-use TEMPO system (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) is a modified culture method that makes use of vials with culture medium specific to the test and cards simulating the most-probablenumber method. It is based on an automated system that reduces workload and number of manipulations without the necessity of a full laboratory infrastructure (Torlak et al, 2008;Jasson et al, 2010). The aim of this communication is to compare the flow cytometry and the automated most-probable-number method to standard plate count measurements and to each other, and to suggest the most appropriate rapid method to measure the TVC in this epidemiological setting.…”