- Coliforms are gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non-spore forming bacteria and commonly found in animal intestines and soil. The term “coliform” refers to enteric bacteria found in foodstuff such as meat, shellfish, dairy products, other foods and in particular, water.

- Bacteria such as Shigella, Salmonella, Yersinia, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, and Enterobacter are all coliforms, but the most recognized coliform is Escherichia coli. Testing for the presence of coliform is important in the food industry, particularly in dairy production.

1. Advantages of using CompactDry CF-L to test for coliforms in dairy products

- CompactDry CF-L Coliform is a ready to use dehydrated media plate used to detect coliform bacteria in dairy products such as cheese, milk, yogurt and any products containing lactic acid bacteria.

- Monitoring and identification of coliforms is a critical quality control parameter throughout the food production process. The CompactDry CF-L selective media contains the chromogenic enzyme substrate X-Gal which result in a blue to blue/green colonies for easy culture and coliform count in dairy products. CompactDry CF-L enables easy culture and coliform count in dairy products.

- It is specifically formulated to counter the negative effects of lactic acid bacteria on chromogenic substrates.

2. General protocol Compact Dry CF-L Coliform