scope:

This document specifies general rules for the enumeration of enterococci (E. faecium) in feeding stuffs (additives, premixtures and compound feeds excluding mineral feeds) that contain enterococci as a single microorganism component or in a mixture with other microorganisms. Applying the method to premixtures and compound feeds with critical amounts of copper demands a special procedure (see A.2). The document is not applicable to mineral feeds which are defined as complementary feeding stuffs composed mainly of minerals and containing at least 40 % crude ash (Regulation (EC) 767/2009) [4].

There are different categories of feed samples:

a) Additives containing about 10¹⁰ colony forming units (CFU)/g;

b) Premixtures containing 10¹¹ CFU/kg;

c) Compound feeds, meal or pellets which contain about 10⁹ CFU/kg.