aCOLade colony counter in food manufacturing

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Synbiosis today announced its aCOLade, affordable, manual colony counter is being used at major UK food manufacturer, Pukka Pies, to ensure that their pies are top quality and free from microbial contaminants.

The easy to use aCOLade colony counter is being used in the Onsite Microbiology Testing Laboratory at Pukka Pies to accurately count mixed colonies on TVC (Total Viable Count) plates, as well as bacterial colonies including coliforms, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter spp. and Clostridium perfringens on a range of different media. Scientists at Pukka Pies are able to perform so many different counts using the aCOLade because this versatile system has interchangeable backgrounds, as well as an adjustable plate ring, making it suitable for counting shiny colonies and colonies on different plate sizes.

Val Burton, Laboratory Supervisor at Pukka Pies said: “Our previous colony counter was white light based, which gave us a reflection problem, especially when we were counting white colonies on TVC media. We saw the aCOLade advertised as being anti-glare because it offers two different backgrounds and decided to give this counter a try in our lab.”

Val continued: “We have been using the aCOLade for almost a year to count around 50 plates every day. The aCOLade is brilliant. The system is reliable, sensitive and has a nice viewing magnifying glass so suits our needs perfectly. We’d definitely re-order another aCOLade for colony counting.”

Martin Smith of Synbiosis commented: “We’re delighted that a pie manufacturer with such a good reputation for quality is using our technology to accurately ensure their products are in tip top condition. Their use of the aCOLade shows food microbiologists looking for a simple to use, inexpensive manual colony counter, which is versatile enough to use with a variety of different plate and colony types that aCOLade is a ‘pukka’ choice.”

ProtoCOL colony counter

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500

Synbiosis is pleased to announce its innovative ProtoCOL automated colony counting system is being used at the Robert Mondavi Research Institute, a major US food and wine research center, to speed up studies on the growth of a variety of bacterial pathogens in food.

Microbiologists in the Robert Mondavi Research Institute (RMI) at the University of California, Davis are using ProtoCOL to look for, and count colonies of bacteria associated with food poisoning on a wide range of media and plate types. These pathogens include E.coli 0157 and Salmonella growing in nuts and fresh produce. Using a ProtoCOL, researchers at the RMI are able to rapidly and accurately monitor how pathogens can grow in different types of storage conditions. It is hoped this information will lead to a greater understanding of how to prevent outbreaks of food poisoning associated with these bacterial pathogens.

Dr Anne-Laure Moyne, Staff Research Associate at the RMI explained: “We run trials looking at how storing products such as almonds, pistachios and lettuce can affect the growth of bacterial contaminants. During these trials, we can generate around 250 spiral, pour plates or gridded filters on plates every day, all of which have to be analyzed. Doing this manually with a light box and pen meant our staff had to work very long days, so we knew we had to automate the process.”

Dr Moyne added: “We tested two automated colony counters side by side but found that because of the different lighting methods only the ProtoCOL could recognize and count black Salmonella colonies when the BSA (bismuth sulphite agar) media they are growing on is green. We also saw the ProtoCOL could count red colonies on red media and distinguish between grid lines and colonies more accurately. This is why we decided the ProtoCOL system was the right one for our research and we have been very happy with the system’s performance.”

Martin Smith of Synbiosis stated: “With recent outbreaks of food poisoning in Europe associated with salad products, research into what triggers bacterial growth is critical. We’re proud to hear the ProtoCOL is being used by microbiologists at such a prestigious food research institute to help improve the productivity of their important trials. The results RMI microbiologists are seeing, especially using chromogenic media, shows scientists in food microbiology laboratories looking for a versatile, accurate automated colony counter that a ProtoCOL is an intelligent choice.”

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aCOLade colony counter in food manufacturing

ProtoCOL colony counter