of the total bacterial concentration of food it is based on a multiple enzyme technology townsend and chen method and composition for detecting bacterial contamination in food products u s ser no 08 484 593 hereby incorporated by reference herein which correlates enzyme activity to the presence of viable bacteria in food it utilizes multiple enzyme substrates that produce a blue fluorescent color when metabolized by bacteria when the liquid reagent is inoculated with a prepared food sample and dispensed into a plate as described herein the total viable bacterial concentration of that food product can be determined after 24 hours of incubation the actual medium used herein is not critical to the invention but is provided only for illustrative purposes store bulk powder and unused simplates at room temperature 4 to 25 u00b0 c away from the light after use the simplate device will contain viable bacteria which must be handled and discarded appropriately once the powder is rehydrated it is stable for up to 24 hours when stored at 4 to 25 u00b0 c 1 pour an appropriate amount of bulk powder to a container of sterile deionized water one vial contains enough powder for 10 tests each test has a.