TITLE:
Preparation of Reference Material for Proficiency Test for Enumeration of Coliforms in Cheese Matrix
AUTHORS:
Marcelo Luiz Lima Brandão, Carla de Oliveira Rosas, Silvia Maria Lopes Bricio, Valéria de Mello Medeiros, Juliana de Castro Beltrão da Costa, Rodrigo Rollin Pinheiro, Paola Cardarelli-Leite, Marcus Henrique Campino de La Cruz, Armi Wanderley da Nóbrega
KEYWORDS:
Coliforms; Cheese; Reference Material; Proficiency Test
JOURNAL NAME:
Detection,
Vol.1 No.1,
July
19,
2013
ABSTRACT: It is widely accepted that quantitative reference materials (RM), are indispensable tools for verification of the precision and accuracy of analytical measurements. The RM can be used by food microbiology laboratories, as part of their quality assurance programmes, to achieve their quality control. In Brazil, Anvisa RDC No. 12/01 specifies the enumeration of coliforms as one of the parameters for evaluating cheese quality. The aim of this study was to produce a quantitative RM for proficiency testing (PT) for use in the testing of enumeration of coliforms in cheese matrixes. A sample of an ultra-filtered cheese with a coliforms count of