How Small Are Microorganisms?
One of the most important things to remember about bacteria is their extreme smallness. The fact that they cannot be seen with the unaided eye is one of the chief reasons they are not given the prime consideration they should by people in the dairy and food industries. The average bacterial cell is 1/25,000 of an inch in length and even smaller in diameter. In other words, one could place 25,000 bacteria cells, side by side, on an inch-long line. By contrast, if 25,000 people were lined up shoulder to shoulder, they would make a line over 18 miles long. For us to see these incredibly small living things, a microscope with a magnification of over 800 power or more is needed. In contrast, most binoculars used to observe sporting evens magnify objects about 7 to 10 power. So if these bacteria are too small to see with the eye, how does one know they are present in a food? The process we use is to plate the food being examined to determine if bacteria are present. One takes a sample of foo
