PCR was used for quantitative counting of Bifidobacterium spp. in a sample mixed with Lactobacillus acidophilus using two primer sets; one set for universal priming and the other set for Bifidobacterium specific priming. DNA products from two independent PCRs with DNA extracted from the mixed sample were found to be easily distinguishable from each other by agarose gel electrophoresis. The concentrations of PCR products correlated with the total number of bacteria and with the number of Bifidobacterium spp. present in the sample.