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.