Microtitration plate technique and -fluorometry was applied to automate the resazurin reduction test for monitoring bacterial numbers in broth cultures and milk. The effect of resazurin and resorufin concentration, bacterial species, growth medium, pH, and redox potential on the fluorescence response was studied. The timing of the appearance of maximum fluorescence was directly related to the logarithm of the number of colony-forming units (log CFU). Fresh milk and heat-treated milk contain interfering redox systems. The technique based on microtitration plate fluorometry, when fully automated, seems to provide a high-capacity system for analyzing bacterial numbers in foodstuffs and other media.