Microbiological Analysis of Food and Water

1. Scope and Purpose. Introduction. Implications of incorrect results. Quality assurance. Types of laboratories. Elements of a quality assurance programme. Accreditation. Benefits of a quality assurance programme. 2. Implementation of Quality Assurance Programmes. Introduction. Personnel. Media. Methods. Equipment. Sample handling. Data handling. Quality control systems. Follow-up. 3. People, Management and Organization. Introduction. People. Laboratory accommodation and environment. Safety. Working procedures. Communication and customer relations. Complaints management. 4. Sampling. Introduction. Distribution of organisms in food and water. Sampling plans. Food. Water. Sample records. Sampler training. Sample transport. Sample reception. Summary. 5. Equipment Introduction. Types of sterilization apparatus. Steam sterilization. Media preparator. Pressure cooker. Hot-air sterilizers (dry sterilization). Filter sterilization. Membrane filtration apparatus. Incubators. Water baths. Microwaves. Thermometers. pH meters. Balances. Deionizing and distillation apparatus. Cold storage. Anaerobic incubation. Colony counters. Microscopes. ELISA plate readers and plate washers. List of equipment and technical specifications. 6. Materials. Introduction. Sample bottles and containers. Laboratory glassware. Pipettes. Petri dishes. Metal utensils. Tubes and closures. Membrane filters. Pads. Deionized/distilled water. Culture media and chemicals. 7. Quantitative Method and Procedure Assessment. Introduction. Principles of microbiological measurements of water and food. Standardization and validation. Mathematical and technical characteristics of microbiological methods. Selective methods. Comparison and validation of presence/absence tests. Quantitative expression and estimation of uncertainty in microbiological methods. Experimental designs for comparing colony count methods. 8. Analytical Quality Control in Microbiology. Introduction. First-line checks. Second-line checks. 9. Handling and Reporting Results. Introduction. Samples organized or requested internally. Samples submitted to the laboratory. Examples of request forms and report forms. 10. Accreditation. Introduction. International aspects of accreditation. The European single market. National accreditation organizations. Accreditation requirements. Achieving accreditation. Annex. Statistics for Quality Assurance in Food and Water Microbiology. Some basic calculations. Some basic distributions. Confidence intervals. Statistical tests. Analysis of variance. Appendix A. Example of a membrane filter test, with statistical evaluation. Appendix B. Preparation of test sample for first-level quality control of plate and membrane filter counts, with statistical evaluation.