Study: Comparison of MC-Media Pad® with Different Convenience Solution Products
Comparison of Different Convenience Solution Products for Indicator Organism Testing in Food and Beverage Samples
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The MC-Media Pad® is a convenient method for the rapid routine testing of microbial contamination of raw and in-process food and beverage materials, and finished products.
The MC-Media Pad® solution is composed of a series of ready-to-use pads for total count and specific detection and enumeration of indicator organisms.
Each MC-Media Pad® comprises a fabric pad coated with a dedicated culture media formulation, placed on an adhesive support and covered with a transparent gas permeable lid.
The MC-Media Pad® solution has been specifically developed for the testing of 1 mL food samples.
The performance of the following MC-Media Pad® tests was challenged with 3 comparable convenient testing products (Product A, Product B and Product C) in the market:
MC-Media Pad® Rapid Aerobic Count, MC-Media Pad® Coliform, MC-Media Pad® E. coli / Coliform, MC-Media Pad® Yeast / Mold.
Method
Food and Beverage Matrix Selection
Four challenging food and beverage products were tested: dried soup, cola, chocolate pudding and mozzarella purchased at a local store were selected to cover 4 different food product families.
Sample Preparation
Portions of 10 g or 10 mL of each food sample were added to a stomacher bag or blender cup. 90 mL of diluents (sterile 0.9% NaCl-solution (sodium chloride - 1.06400.1000)) were then also added to the homogenizer bag or blender cup and stomached or homogenized for 2 mins (Enrichment Sample Homogenizer ESH - 5.42765.0001). Each sample homogenate was then inoculated with 20 to 80 CFUs of a mixture of Escherichia coli ATCC® 25922, or Salmonella typhimurium ATCC® 14028 for MC-Media Pad® Rapid Aerobic Count, MC-Media Pad® Coliform, MC-Media Pad® E. coli / Coliform, or with Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATCC® 9763 and Mucor racemosus ATCC® 42647 for MC-Media Pad® Yeast / Mold.
MC-Media Pad® Protocol and Competitor Product Protocol
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Other products have been tested according to the procedures described in the individual package inserts.
Result Interpretation
Each test was performed in triplicate, and recovery calculated as a percentage versus control plates: TSA (146431) for MC-Media Pad® Rapid Aerobic Count, MC-Media Pad® Coliform, MC-Media Pad® E. coli / Coliform and SDA (146236) for MC-Media Pad® Yeast / Mold.
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Results
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Figure 1.Chocolate Pudding
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Figure 2.Dried Soup
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Figure 3.Cola Results
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Figure 4.Mozzarella Results
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that MC-Media Pad® tests can be used to detect and easily enumerate indicator organism contamination in a broad range of food and beverage matrices showing a growth performance equivalent or better to other convenient solutions in the market. In addition to the comparable performance, MC-Media Pad® tests provide some benefits over existing products in terms of color-coding, handling, time to results for yeast & molds, and improved read-out using chromogenic substance to allow fast and convenient detection of microbial contamination.
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