<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<regulation prefix="Regulation" num=".05" citation="COMAR 10.15.07.05" title_num="10" subtitle_num="15" chapter_num="07" heading="Bacteriological Standards.">
  <paragraph num="A.">
    <text>The person-in-charge:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Shall ensure that shellfish are harvested, handled, and processed to meet the bacteriological standards in this regulation; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>May not distribute shellfish that do not meet the standards in this regulation.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="B.">
    <text>To establish whether compliance is met with the bacteriological standards for shellfish in §C of this regulation, a person shall utilize the isolation, identification, and enumeration in the American Public Health Association Recommended Procedures for the Examination of Sea Water and Shellfish, or other methods approved by the Secretary based on the ability of the methods to provide accurate and repeatable results.</text>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="C.">
    <text>The bacteriological standards for shellfish are the following:</text>
    <paragraph num="(1)">
      <text>Standard plate count (SPC) may not exceed 500,000 colony-forming units per gram of shellfish;</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(2)">
      <text>Except when shellfish are further analyzed for Escherichia coli (E. coli), fecal coliform may not exceed 230 most probable number (MPN) per 100 grams of shellfish; and</text>
    </paragraph>
    <paragraph num="(3)">
      <text>When shellfish exceed 230 MPN fecal coliform per hundred grams and are further analyzed for E. coli, E. coli may not exceed 330 MPN per 100 grams of shellfish.</text>
    </paragraph>
  </paragraph>
  <paragraph num="D.">
    <text>The Department shall construe numbers of bacteria in excess of the standards set forth in §C of this regulation as rendering the product adulterated, pursuant to Health-General Article, §21-207, Annotated Code of Maryland, and unfit for human consumption.</text>
  </paragraph>
</regulation>