THE MULTIPLICATION OF COLI-AEROGENES BACTERIA IN MILK STORED AT 3–5°

SUMMARY: When 108 samples of individual farm milk supplies were held at 3—5° for 72 hr, 35·2% showed increases in coli-aerogenes organisms of over one-hundredfold and 10·2% increases of more than one-thousandfold. The coli-aerogenes microflora after refrigeration was dominated by Klebsiella cloacae and K. aerogenes I. While some strains of all the coli-aerogenes types isolated showed growth, though sometimes scanty, on yeast-dextrose agar in 5 days at 3—5°, the majority of the strains of K. cloacae showed luxuriant growth under these conditions and can be considered as typical facultative psychrophiles of milk.