Validation of ethylene oxide-sterilization using a new measuring system.

Up to now the parametric release of medical devices sterilized with EO was not possible due the lack of an online method of measurement for EO. With the developed mobile system it is possible to measure all physical parameters of the sterilization process online in the chamber. The accuracy of the EO concentration and humidity measurement is < +/- 1%, of the temperature < +/- 0.

Studies on Media for Enumerating Enterococci in Frozen Vegetables.

A study was made of the relative sensitivity and specificity of presumptive and confirmatory media for the most probable number enumeration of enterococci in frozen vegetables. Azide dextrose broth yielded the highest numbers of confirmable enterococci and its sensitivity was shown to be comparable to nonselective media. The use of ethyl violet azide broth as a confirmatory medium resulted in a significant number of false positive tests.