This bacterial growth medium was developed in 1971 for Lactococcus species isolated from milk products. It was originally called M16 medium, [1] but in 1975 Terzaghi and Sandine [2] added disodium-β-glycerophosphate to the medium as a buffer, and named the new growth medium M17 medium. It was later found that the addition of disodium-β-glycerophosphate inhibits the growth of many Lactobacillus species