Evaluation of an improved MPN medium for recovery of stressed and nonstressed Staphylococcus aureus.

Two media used for recovery of foodborne Staphylococcus aureus were compared: trypticase soy broth with 10% salt (TSBS), used in the official AOAC method, and TSBS with 1% sodium pyruvate added (PTSB). Adding pyruvate increased recovery of 4 heat-stressed and nonstressed S. aureus foodborne strains from artificially contaminated mashed potato and ham salad substrates. The overall geometric means for the 2 media differed significantly at the alpha = 0.05 level. Recovery of S. aureus from 70 replicates of naturally contaminated Monterey Jack cheese was highest in PTSB. The overall geometric means/g were 63 in TSBS and 96 in PTSB.