The samples were further diluted and plated in duplicate on XLD agar plates (Alpha Biosciences, Inc., Baltimore,
MD) to enumerate Salmonella, and on blood agar plates (BBL TSA II 5% sheep blood, Becton Dickinson and Company) to enumerate the background microflora. The plates were incubated at 37 C and colonies counted to estimate CFU of Salmonella and background microflora.