As food companies struggle to find a profitable balance between making sure that they meet safety and processing regulations and producing products efficiently, microbiology equipment and supplies are increasingly vital to their efforts.
Whatever firms are testing—be it ingredients and raw materials as they come in; finished products; or even the production environment—in search of indicator organisms that paint a clear picture of what’s happening to the products, the methods they employ have to be reliable the first time. And the more tests that can be done more quickly, the better.
“Our main goal was to produce a more sensitive test that could happen faster,” said product manager Wendy Lauer of Bio-Rad’s iQ-Check real-time PCR test kits. “The first time users get a presumptive positive result, they know it’s a real positive. If they get a negative, they have the confidence it’s actually negative.”
The ability for users to conduct more reliable tests faster—whether those tests are of raw materials, finished products, or even the processing environment—has been a primary driver of innovation in microbiology testing equipment.
In the interests of production efficiency, iQ-Check shortens a typical two-day wait for test results to 24 hours and allows 94 samples to be processed in one plate format, Lauer said.
Always-critical user-friendliness and customer feedback have been prime factors shaping many of the products offered by suppliers of microbiological testing. The incorporation of the newest technological advances remains a primary goal.
For Advanced Instruments of Norwood, Mass., this has meant introducing a touch-screen interface to its Autoplate Spiral Plating System (SPS), the newest iteration of the Autoplate 400—an industry favorite for more than 15 years. “This allows the customer to run the system with minimal training, as quickly as possible, and allows for multiple operators without the headache of constant in-service training,” said national sales manager Anthony Pappas. “Companies, universities, and government agencies that are studying pathogens in food have been our most loyal customers. Counts can be very high, and the SPS can save these customers 4 LOG in dilutions (up to 75% in materials).”
Advanced Instruments Inc.
Two Technology Way
Norwood, MA 02062
781-320-9000
Autoplate® Spiral Plating System, from Advanced Instruments
The Autoplate SPS features 50 percent faster cycle times–about 35 seconds as opposed to one minute–a new Windows® CE-based touchscreen display, and features three new spiral plating modes. The system introduces a revolutionary new self-cleaning feature that is fast, thorough, and completely ensures no sample-to-sample contamination.
www.aicompanies.com
Product Categories
- Colony Counting Apparatus
- Colony Counting, Automated
- Plating Equipment/Apparatus
- Plating systems, Automated
Bio-Rad
2000 Alfred Nobel Dr.
Hercules, CA 94547
800-4-BIORAD
(800-424-6723)
Real-Time PCR That’s Faster, Easier, Better
Bio-Rad’s iQ-CheckTM real-time PCR test kits are AOAC approved and are adapted to the needs of food safety laboratories. All enrichment protocols are 24hr or less, including Listeria. All kits have the same extraction regardless of organism or food matrix. Two instrument platforms are available for low and high volume labs.
www.foodscience.bio-rad.com
Product Categories
- Agars
- Dehydrated Culture Media
- E-coli 0157:H7 Testing Equipment
- Listeria Testing Equipment
- PCR
- PCR Equipment/Supplies
- Salmonella Testing Equipment
- Chromogenic media
- Campylobacter testing
- Real-time PCR rapid methods
Biotest Microbiology Corporation
400 Commons Way, Suite F
Rockaway, NJ 07866
877-210-5103
MMB Food Pathogen System
Biotest offers MMB Food Pathogen kits, allowing fast and sensitive detection of all common food-borne bacteria including: Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, and Shiga toxin producing E.coli (STEC) on a broad range of real-time PCR cyclers. Combining the extensive media product portfolio of heipha (available from Biotest), we provide you with a complete system for your food pathogen testing needs.
www.biotestusa.com
Product Categories
- Agars
- Dehydrated Culture Media
- Dilution Bottles
- PCR
- Rapid Microbiology Analyzers
- Swabs/Environmental Sampling
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