Problems associated with the microbiological control of the breast milk from hospital milk bank units.

The microbiological tests on breast milk performed when samples of pasteurized breast milk are added to hospital milk banks are covered by French regulations dating from December 3 2007. They involve counts of the aerobic total flora and of Staphylococcus aureus in a sample of milk before pasteurization, and culture after pasteurization to check that the treated milk is sterile. The regulations specify the nature of the agar plates to be used, together with the conditions for plating and incubation, but they lack detail in other areas.