A total of 78 samples of frozen fish sticks were analyzed for total plate count, coliform count, coagulase-positive staphylococci and members of the Salmonella-Shigella group. Fifteen samples (19%) contained 50,000 organisms or more per g. and 4 had 100,000 or more per g. Coliform counts were generally low, ranging from zero to 35 per g., with 6 samples showing counts of 10 or more per g. Two samples contained coagulase-positive staphylococci and an isolate from one of these samples was positive to salmonella polyvalent sera.
Author notes
1Contriution No. 435 from the Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
2Present address: Colonial Provision Co., Boston, Mass.
3Consumer Union, Mount Vernon, N. Y.
