Thursday, February 23, 2012

Instant bacterial results possible



Food safety is going to change dramatically with the development of new equipment hat can provide instant identification of harmful bacteria, says Don Blakely of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Researchers at Michigan State University have developed the equipment that can detect bacteria such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli within as little as one hour.
The equipment uses nanotechnology in a sensor.
“Testing for pathogens has traditionally required taking swabs of equipment and utensils and sending those swabs off for analysis in laboratories.
“Getting results can take several days and by that time the product may be in the food chain and on consumer’s tables,” says a news release from the OMAFRA extension office in Fergus.
“Ultimately some contaminated products may be consumed before any recall is enacted. This whole scenario is about to change” because of the new bio-sensor, the release says.
 “If this new device gets widespread use there is huge potential “ to keep poisonous bacteria from reaching consumers, OMAFRA says.