To characterize the Staphylococcus aureus(S.aureus) isolates that were inhibited on Baird-Parker agar and propose the possible solutions for the enumeration of these isolates.Methods The isolates inhibited on Baird-Parker agar were identified from 127 S.aureus isolates from different sources and eight S.aureus reference strains. The characteristics of these isolates were analyzed and the inhibitory effects of the components in Baird-Parker were determined. Results Three S.aureus isolates from the ground pork samples in Beijing and a reference strain S.aureus (CMCC 26112) showed poor growth on Baird-Parker agar. The glycine (12.0 g/L) in the Baird-Parker agar could inhibit the growth of these four isolates, and the supplement of sodium pyruvate, lithium chloride and egg yolk potassium tellurite didn't inhibit the growth of these isolates. These four isolates showed over 60% growth rate on mannitol salt agar and chromogenic agar. The pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) showed that three isolates from Beijing had the same PFGE pattern which was significantly different from the pattern of (CMCC 26112).Conclusion To guarantee the good coverage of the national food safety standard GB 4789.10-2010 on S.aureus, two or more categories of agar plates should be used in the S.aureus enumeration of food samples.