ISO 4833-2 Microbiology of the Food Chain - Horizontal Method for Enumeration of Microorganisms - Part 2: Colony Count Test by Surface Coating Technique

EUROLAB, with its state-of-the-art accredited laboratories and expert team, provides precise and fast testing services within the scope of ISO 4833-2 testing. ISO 4833-2 specifies a horizontal method for counting microorganisms that can grow and form colonies on the surface of a solid medium after aerobic incubation at 30°C.

The method applies to:

• Products intended for human consumption or animal feed;
• Environmental samples in food and feed production and food processing.

ISO 4833-2 applies to:

• Products containing heat-sensitive organisms likely to make up a significant part of the total flora (for example, psychrotrophic organisms in refrigerated and frozen foods, dried foods, other foods that may contain heat-sensitive organisms);
• Products containing obligate aerobic bacteria (eg Pseudomonas spp.), which are likely to constitute a significant part of the total flora;
• Products containing small particles that are difficult to distinguish from colonies on the pour plate;
• Products whose intense color prevents the recognition of colonies on the cast plate;
• Products that need to be differentiated between different colony types as part of the food quality assessment.

In addition to the manual smear coating technique, an appendix to ISO 4833-2 also specifies the use of the spiral plater as a quick method of performing surface colony counting.

ISO 4833-2 has limited applicability to the examination of certain fermented foods and animal feeds, and other media or incubation conditions may be more appropriate. However, although it is possible that the dominant microorganisms in such products cannot be detected effectively, this method can be applied to such products.

For some matrices, the method described in ISO 4833-2 may yield different results than those obtained using the method described in ISO 4833-1.

EUROLAB assists manufacturers with ISO 4833-2 test compliance. Our test experts, with their professional working mission and principles, provide you, our manufacturers and suppliers, the best service and controlled testing process in our laboratories. Thanks to these services, businesses receive more effective, high-performance and quality testing services and provide safe, fast and uninterrupted service to their customers.