EVALUATION OF CANDIDA ISOLATION MEDIUM IN FOOD HYGIENE IN HUNGARY

Aniline Blue containing Yeast and Mold agar, or Candida Isolation Agar (CIA, DIFCO) was evaluated and found successful in presumptive identification of 8 strains of laboratory cultures of Candida albicans based on the ability of C. albicans to grow and give characteristic fluorescence at 365 nm UV light. C. tropicalis (3 strains) was able to grow but did not fluoresce. The CIA medium was also useful for the recovery of C. albicans from inoculated milk and orange juice. The recovery was complete when peptone water was used as the diluent, however, when milk or orange juice were used as the diluent of the respective food, recovery was reduced to about 40%. No C. albicans was recovered in this study from hands of factory workers (dairy, brewery and canning) or from 12 types of foods tested as well as from food processing environment. More samplings are needed to further ascertain the role of C. albicans in Food Microbiology.