Microbiological quality of feed materials used between 2009 and 2012 in Poland

The study was conducted at all regional veterinary diagnostic laboratories. Feed materials were examined for Salmonella prevalence and contamination by Enterobacteriaceae, aerobic mesophilic bacteria, total plate count, fungi, Clostridium sp., and Bacillus cereus. Assays were done following international and Polish standards used in food and feed microbiology. Salmonella sp. were most often detected in oil seeds. In most of the examined feed ingredients, the number of Enterobactenaceae did not exceed 10 cfu/g. The contamination by aerobic bacteria ranged most often from 10(1) to 10(7) cfu/g, and the highest mycological contamination was noted in cereal grains (10(8) cfu/g). The results showed that microbial contamination of feed materials in regard to Enterobacteriaceae, fungi, and total plate counts declined over the past years.