Aerobic Plate Count (APC)

This test results in an enumeration of the total aerobic bacterial population of a sample. No bacterial identifications are made, however the resulting CFU (colony forming unit) count can be applied to internal acceptance criteria for a product or environmental HACCP samples. This is also a useful test to gauge freshness of a product or to validate sanitation procedures.

50g minimum sample is recommended. Environmental surface samples can also be analyzed.

EMSL Test Codes: F102 (Petrifilm AOAC 990.12, 986.33, 989.10), F151 (FDA BAM Ch. 3)

Sample retention time – 30 days, unless highly perishable