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Food Safety: Pathogen Detection 3M Food Safety's New Approach By Bob Sims he manufacture of food products entails many details that need attention, but one of, if not the most important responsibilities a facility needs to address is food safety. Recalls and foodborne illnesses have been high recently and it has damaged the reputation of companies, as well as scared the American consumer. Foodborne pathogens exist and will continue to exist. The best way to handle them comes by way of detection and prevention. To do that, facilities must know where they stand and what they are up against. promise and interfere with the accuracy of certain tests. Other factors that facilities face are the time crunches created by competitive and economic pressures. "In addition, time to result, ease-of-use, productivity, and system throughput are also important considerations," Habas says. "For example, while culture methods have been traditionally used for pathogen testing, they cannot meet the time-to-result and throughput needs many of our customers have today." "When considering various technologies, food processors need to be confident that a pathogen detection solution will work with their specific food product types as well as fit well into their workflow," says Kevin Habas, scientific marketing and education manager at 3M Food Safety. "For those reasons, they typically conduct an extensive inhouse evaluation to ensure that a given method's performance and accuracy meets expectations before purchasing." The traditional culture method of pathogen detection consists of growing a sample's microorganisms, transferring that sample to an agar medium in a petri dish, incubating the agar plate and allowing the bacterial colonies to grow. A tester must then interpret the colonies based on color, shape and size. The culture method proves accurate, but requires time, labor and a trained eye for interpretation. Because of the challenges associated with the traditional culture method, other, more modern methods have sprung up and given those in need of testing alternatives. T Need to Know When considering foodborne pathogen detection, facilities should address the key points before implementing a system. The specific food product or environmental sample and the specific pathogen to be tested for are critical factors in detection, Habas says. Inhibitors specific to certain foods will com- SOURCE: SHUTTERSTOCK 6 * APRIL 2016 * commissary INSIDER Methods "These challenges with conventional methods and the development of novel technologies have driven a trend toward using rapid molecular methods," Habas says. "That trend is continuing to accelerate across the world." Molecular, DNA-based methods provide testers For years, molecular pathogen testing was performed using a technology called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). However, PCR technologies require complicated sample preparation steps too, which can lead to oversights and human-related errors. They also use complicated instrumentation that involves thermal (temperature) cycling and fluorescence detection, which can be expensive and pose maintenance burdens. In a new approach to molecular pathogen testing, 3M Food Safety harnessed two unique technologies - loop-mediated isothermal DNA amplification (LAMP) and bioluminescence detection - to deliver a simple, cost-effective method that offers the high accuracy and reliability expected by pathogen testing laboratories. The 3M Molecular Detection System provides faster times to result and superior ease-of-use by utilizing the same assay protocol for all pathogen steps, minimizing human error, and allowing the user to make critical decisions rapidly. The system's latest assays provide enrichment times of 24 hours across food types including dairy products, ready-toeat and raw meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables. After enrichment, it only takes approximately 35 minutes to process up to 96 different samples and start the instrument run. Positive results are identified in as early as 15 minutes. Negative results are identified at the end of the 60-75 minute instrument run.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of instore - April 2016

instore - April 2016
Editor's Note - SNACKING: Have a second?
Table of Contents
News - On our radar
Spotlight - By the Numbers: Donuts
Cover story - Snacking evolved
Commissary Insider - Insight Insider: Good to go fresh aims to please
Food Safety - Pathogen Detection
Equipment Weighing the options
Product Category Spotlight: Ethnic, easy and healthy
Packaging: Peace of mind with tamper-evident technology
Operations and Logistics: Traceability in the supply chain
Product Knowledge - Need to Know: Specialty cheese
Merchandising - On Display: Independence Day
Speciality Insights - Consider Gluten-free Bakery
Equipment & Packaging - Latest Innovation: Rapid-cook ovens
Product Trends
Product Showcase
Ad Index

instore - April 2016