“…Seeliger (1952) and Henriksen (1955) have rightly pointed out that in the current methods of detection or enumeration of coliform bacteria in foods, that is, with the help of solid or liquid lactose-base media, an important class of Enterobacteriaceae of public health significance, namely, the Paracolobacteriaceae (Stuart et al, 1943;Hobbs et al, 1949;Murphy and Morris, 1950;Edwards and Ewing, 1952;Heyl, 1954;is missed. Henriksen (1955) has suggested that this situation be corrected by substituting in current formulae mannitol for lactose because mannitol is a polyol that is fermented with gas formation by many Enterobacteriaceae including most Paracolobacteriaceae.…”