Due to the fact thatL. monocytogenesandE. coliO157:H7 are able
to grow on PCA, the bacterial populations recovered from the standard plate count procedure were made up of target pathogen and
background microflora. This may be attributed to a higher number of aerobic mesophile count recovered. The reduction level of
mesophilic aerobic bacteria associated withE. coliO157:H7 inoculated strawberries followed a 5-min treatment was similar to those
observed withE. coliO157:H7 count on CT-SMAC. Moreover, aerobic mesophile populations detected were very close to that ofE. coli
O157:H7 recovered, whereas mesophilic aerobic bacteria associated
withL. monocytogenescontaminated strawberries that received a 5-min treatment decreased to a lesser degree to that observed onL.
monocytogenesenumerated with MOX. In addition, theL. monocytogenescount was about 0.7 log10CFU/g lower than the total plate
count; therefore, sublethal injury ofL. monocytogenesmay have
occurred.