## 3 Results and Discussion  
PIF are dehydrated products; due to this characteristic, they cannot be sterilized and, therefore, they may contain low levels of microorganisms. When pathogenic microorganisms are present, foodborne illnesses can develop after ingestion of contaminated products [29]. Infant formulas have been implicated in outbreaks of foodborne illness in infants [4; 9; 10; 30]. Therefore, the microbiological safety of baby foods is important to reduce the risk to public health worldwide. Due to the risk, Chile considers carrying out microbiological controls on the PIF of the microorganisms listed in (Table 1). In the present study, both the PIF and RIF analyzed were found to the free from _Cronobacter Sakazakii_ contamination. Using the q-PCR method. [PERSON] et al. [22] found similar results. They evaluated and compared preparation instruction guides according to PIF labels from different countries considering this target pathogen. These authors found that out of seven countries evaluated, only one indicated in the food preparation instructions the use of water at a temperature higher than 70 \({}^{\circ}\)C for reconstitution, a recommendation given by the FAO/WHO [31]. In the case of Chile, the \"Technical Guidance for Dietary Milk Services (SEDILE) and Central of Enteral Formulas (CEFE)\" [13] suggests that water used for the preparation of RIF must be used at temperatures above 75 \({}^{\circ}\)C, which aligns with good hygiene practice (GHP). For the total count of mesophilic aerobes in both PIF and RIF, counts lower than 10.0 cfu/g were found. These values were lower than those reported by [PERSON] et al. [22], which range between \(<\)10\({}^{2}\) and \(>\)10\({}^{5}\) cfu/g. The observed variation could be attributed to the fact that PIFs from different countries were analyzed with no standardized water temperature for reconstitution, potentially promoting microbiological growth. Additionally, some of the PIFs contained probiotics, leading to elevated counts. In total coliforms and _Escherichia coli_, the most probable number (MPN) technique is generally used. In this study, values lower than 3.00 MPN/g were found for both types of samples, complying with the limits established by the Chilean Food Health Regulations (RSA). [PERSON] and [PERSON] [32] evaluated the general hygienic condition of several PIF samples. As part of the analysis, they determined the presence of Enterobacteriaceae, including _Escherichia coli_, using the plate count method. Although a different method was used, the values obtained in both studies were below the established detection limit of 100 cfu/g. In this study, it was found that the values of _Staphylococcus aureus_ were <10.0 cfu/g for both powdered and reconstituted samples. [PERSON] et al. [33] evaluated the growth of _S. aureus_ in reconstituted milk powder and found values < 10\({}^{2}\) cfu/g. The values in our study were lower than those reported by these authors, complying in both cases with the limits established by the European Union [34] of 10\({}^{2}\) cfu/g for milk powder. Similarly, for both types of samples, the results for _Clostritium perfingens_ and _Bacillus cereus_ were <10.0 cfu/g. [PERSON] et al. [35] found similar results when they evaluated the prevalence of these pathogens in PIF from China. Moreover, 92.5% of the PIFs evaluated contained less than 10.0 cfu/g of these pathogens. These results indicate that not only the manufacturers of these PIFs comply with hygienic practices but also those who reconstitute them. _Salmonella_ and _Cronobacter sakazkii_ also belong to category \"A\" since it has been demonstrated, epidemiologically and microbiologically, that they are responsible for infections in infants [8; 29]. In our study, we report the absence of _Salmonella_, which agrees with the findings of [PERSON] [32], where _Salmonella_ was below the detection limit of 100 cfu/g in the 82 PIFs evaluated in their study.