Evaluation of a dry, rehydratable film method for rapid enumeration of Staphylococcus aureus.

Results with the new 3M Petrifilm Rapid S. aureus Count (RSA) Plate method were compared with those of the classical Baird-Parker agar (BPA) method for detection and enumeration of Staphylococcus aureus. Studies on 219 bacterial strains demonstrated that the Petrifilm RSA plate is more sensitive than and as specific as the classical BPA method for confirmed identification of S. aureus. Counts of colonies from 71 pure cultures, 61 naturally contaminated food samples, and more than 750 artificially inoculated food samples showed that the Petrifilm RSA method was as effective as the classical BPA method for identification and enumeration of S. aureus. The Petrifilm RSA method gave results in one-third the time required for the classical method.