Bacteriological survey of the blue crab industry.
During sanitation inspections of 46 crabmeat processing plants on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, 487 samples of whole crabs immediately after cooking, cooked crabs after cooling, backed or washed (or both) crab bodies and whole crab claws, as well as 1,506 retail units of finished product were collected and analyzed bacteriologically. The 1,506 retail units (1-lb [373.24-g] cans) included 518 cans of regular (special) meat, 487 cans of claw meat, and 501 cans of lump meat. Statistical analyses showed that crabmeat from plants in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas had higher counts in 19 of 24 cases for the four bacteriological indices than crabmeat from plants located along the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast of Florida. Aerobic plate counts of retail units collected from a previous day's production were significantly higher than those collected on the day of inspection. Regular crabmeat had consistently higher aerobic plate counts than claw or lump meat. When the product was handled expeditiously under good sanitary conditions, the bacteriological results were significantly better than the results from plants operating under poor sanitary conditions. Crabmeat produced in plants operating under good sanitary conditions had the following bacteriological content: (i) coliform organisms average most-probable-number values (geometric) of less than 20 per g; (ii) no Escherichia coli; (iii) coagulase-positive staphylococci average most-probable-number values (geometric) of less than 30 per g in 93% of the plants; (iv) aerobic plate count average values (geometric) of less than 100,000 per g in 93% of the plants, with the counts from 85% of these plants below 50,000 per g.
A comparison of different processing methods for picked blue crab (Callinectes sapidus).
Five methods for producing picked crab meat from cooked blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) were evaluated for internal food temperatures and bacterial numbers at various process points. Whole shell-on crabs, crab cores ("backed" crabs with carapace removed), and crab meat samples were analyzed for standard plate count, total coliforms, fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus. For three of the processes, crabs were backed and washed a substantial time before picking; one of the processes used an ice slush dip to cool cooked crabs. Except for a single crab sample, bacteria were not isolated from crab and core samples. Standard plate count, E. coli, and S. aureus in crab meat samples from the different processes were statistically the same. Bacterial numbers in fresh picked crab meat samples exposed to an ambient temperature of 20 to 21.1 degrees C for 1.5 and 3.5 h and stored at 1 degrees C for 3 to 4 days and 7 to 8 days did not significantly differ (P < 0.05).
Cultivated Power: Flowers, Culture, and Politics in the Reign of Louis XIV
Ch. 1. Disorderly flowers Floral seduction: death, sex, and flowers Trading on the power of flowers Ch. 2. Refashioning the culture of flowers in early modern France Curiosity and flowers The sweet society of the curious florists Ch. 3. Cultivating the flower The florists' flowers Unlocking the door to the temple of flora Ch. 4. Cultivating the man The theater of the goddess of flowers Nature into art "Jardin d'Hyver," or flowers in print Ch. 5. Cultivating the king Royal precedents Flowers in the garden of Louis XIV Floral mercantilism Flowers and the "Histoire du Roi" Appendices A. Extract of the inventory by ... Sieur Cottereau of flowering plants and bulbs that he offers to furnish for the gardens of the royal households B. Plants included in Jean Donneau de Vise's Histoire de Louis le Grand