An Overview of Numbers and Sources of Bacteria

The BC Ministry of Health has been insisting that the Erickson Improvement District begin chlorination of Erickson's water due to unacceptably high bacteria counts in water samples taken in the last few years. In actual fact the only reason that bacteria can even be detected in Erickson's water at all is due to recent improvements in testing methods. The tests that are now performed routinely on Erickson's water do not discriminate between harmless bacteria that are found everywhere in our environment (and may even be beneficial) and potentially harmful fecal coliform.

Typical number of bacteria in one glass (300 ml.) of pasteurized milk	⁽¹⁾6,000,000
Maximum number of bacteria allowed in one glass of pasteurized chocolate milk	.⁽²⁾15,000,000
Typical number of bacteria found in ⁽⁴⁾one serving of deli food	⁽¹⁾11,200,000
Typical number of bacteria found in ⁽⁴⁾one serving of ready to eat, precooked frozen food	⁽¹⁾5,600,000
Typical number of Coliform bacteria found in ⁽⁴⁾one serving of deli food	⁽¹⁾11,200
Typical number of Coliform bacteria found in ⁽⁴⁾one serving of ready to eat, precooked frozen food.	⁽¹⁾5,600
Maximum number of Escherichia coli (E coli) allowed in 1/2 pound of cheese	⁽²⁾112,000
Maximum number of Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) allowed in 1/2 pound of cheese	⁽²⁾224,000
Typical number of bacteria found in 8 oz of ground beef (uncooked)	⁽¹⁾224,000,000
Typical number of bacteria found on 1 square inch of healthy skin	⁽³⁾100,000
Typical number of bacteria found in one drop of human saliva (healthy mouth)	⁽³⁾150,000,000
Typical number of bacteria found in each breath of air you take	⁽³⁾10,000
Average number of bacteria found in one glass of Erickson water during 1998	⁽⁴⁾52
Maximum number of bacteria found in one glass of Erickson water during 1998	⁽⁴⁾252