These, claims the firm, have the potential to reduce or even eliminate theneed for further confirmatory testing.
Chromogenic technology detects specific enzyme activity in target organismsquickly and accurately. These enzymes cleave a colourless substrate in themedium, releasing colour molecules within the colonies of interest andallowing them to be clearly seen, differentiated and counted.
Food safety can increasingly make or break the fortunes of a company. Inindustrialised countries, the percentage of people suffering from foodbornediseases each year has been reported to be up to 30 per cent. And in the US,for example, around 76 million cases of foodborne diseases, resulting in325,000 hospitalisations and 5,000 deaths, are estimated to occur each year.
The food industry therefore increasingly needs cost-effective analyticalmethods that are safe, accurate and minimise waste to develop methods toscreen, detect, and confirm multiple chemical residues and harmful bacteria,including their toxins, in foodstuffs.
The extensive selection of Oxoid Chromogenic Media available to the foodindustry includes Oxoid Chromogenic Bacillus cereus Agar for the selectiveisolation and differentiation of Bacillus cereus.
In addition, there is Oxoid Chromogenic E. coli/coliform Agar and OxoidSelective E. coli/coliform Agar for the detection and differentiation of E.coli from other coliforms. Oxoid Chromogenic Enterobacter sakazakii Agar canbe used for the enumeration of Enterobacter sakazakii in infant milk andother foods and differentiation from other Enterobacteriaceae.
Oxoid Chromogenic Salmonella Medium can be used for the identification ofSalmonella species and selective differentiation from otherEnterobacteriaceae, while Oxoid Chromogenic Listeria Agar can improve theisolation, enumeration and presumptive identification of Listeria speciesand differentiation of pathogenic Listeria monocytogenes and Listeriaivanovii from other Listeria species.