Application of rapid methods and ultrasound imaging in the assessment of the microbiological quality of aseptically packed starch soup

The application of rapid microbiological methods such as automated turbidometry and microcolony count using the direct epifluorescence technique (DEFT) was tested for the quality control of aseptically packed ultra‐high temperature‐treated starch‐based soup. In addition, a non‐destructive method using ultrasound imaging through the packages prior to the microbiological analysis was evaluated. The results showed that ultrasound could be a promising non‐destructive testing method in quality control schemes for starch‐based foods. Certain problems associated with calibration may arise in the application of turbidometry for heat‐treated food material. Neither method studied in this work was sufficiently sensitive without a pre‐incubation step.