.15 Bacteriological Standards.

A. The person-in-charge:

(1) Shall ensure that crab meat is processed to meet the bacteriological standards set forth in this regulation; and

(2) May not distribute crab meat that does not meet these standards.

B. To establish whether compliance is met with the bacteriological standards for crab meat set forth in §§C and D of this regulation, a person shall utilize the isolation, identification, and enumeration methods that are approved by the Secretary based on the ability of the methods to provide accurate and repeatable results.

C. The bacteriological standards for crab meat that is not pasteurized are the following:

(1) Generic Escherichia coli may not exceed a Most Probable Number of 3.6 per gram of fresh crabmeat;

(2) Listeria monocytogenes and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli may not be present in fresh crab meat; and

(3) Standard Plate Count may not exceed 100,000 colony-forming units per gram of crab meat.

D. The bacteriological standards for pasteurized crab meat are the following:

(1) Escherichia coli may not be present in pasteurized crab meat;

(2) Listeria monocytogenes may not be present in pasteurized crab meat; and

(3) Standard Plate Count may not exceed 25,000 colony-forming units per gram of crab meat.