Total viable counts (TVC) and psychrotrophic bacteria counts were
determined as follows. Twenty-five grams of a sausage sample was
blended for 2 min with 225 ml of sterile Butterfield's phosphatebuffered
water using a sterile blender jar (Waring, Torrington, CT), to
obtain sample concentration 0.1 g/ml. By sequential 10-fold dilutions,
sample concentrations from 10−2 to 10−8 g/mlwere obtained in sterile
Butterfield's phosphate diluent. The TVC and psychrotrophic counts
were determined by the pour plate method, using plate count agar.
The diluted samples were incubated at 35 °C for 48 h, or at 7 °C for
10 days (BAM, 2001). The counts are expressed as log CFU/g.