A number of commercially available cultures, marked for human consumption, were analyzed for viability using a resuspension medium consisting of KH2PO4, Na2HPO4, cysteine, Tween 80, agar, and an antifoam agent together with modifications of multiple-layer diffusion techniques. These method's were compared to the use of MRS plus cysteine, acidified MRS, End M17 culture media and found to be superior in the selection and enumeration of dried cultures of mixed genera.