The total ACC is the total number of aerobic
organisms from a sampled area. It can be quantified
and provides a general measure of bacterial load.
The US Department of Agriculture has specified that
microbial counts on food-processing equipment
should be ,5 cfu/cm2 before plant start-up and
similar microbial surface counts, after cleaning,
have been advocated by the Swedish Food Standards
Agency.29,30 UK studies have used ,2.5 cfu/
cm2 in evaluating cleaning efficacy.7 However, the
internationally recognized figure of ,5 cfu/cm2
could be used as a starting point