Biomerieux launches two new Tempo kits: Tempo STA, for the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci (S aureus) and Tempo Lab, for the enumeration of lactic acid bacteria
"With our expanded Tempo menu, Biomerieux now covers all of the major quality indicators," stated Alexandre Merieux, Biomerieux corporate vice president, industrial microbiology.
"The automated Tempo system meets the needs of our customers in the food industry and is less time-consuming and labour-intensive than traditional methods".
Growth of Staphylococcus aureus in food products is a public health risk since certain strains produce enterotoxins, which if ingested can cause staphylococcal food poisoning.
The enumeration of Staphylococcus aureus in food samples is critical to monitoring product quality throughout the manufacturing process, identifying risks and assessing the effectiveness of sanitation measures.
Tempo STA delivers results within 24 hours instead of up to 48 hours for the ISO reference methods and up to four days for the BAM method.
No confirmation step is needed, contrary to most of the other methods.
Some lactic acid bacteria are used in the production of fermented foods such as yogurt.
However, certain species can cause spoilage and degrade the organoleptic quality of a product (its taste, colour, texture and/or smell).
Therefore, the level of lactic acid bacteria in a product has an important role in determining its shelf life.
Tempo Lab provides lactic acid bacteria counts within 40-48 hours, compared to three days for the reference methods, which also require time-consuming plating techniques.
The fully automated Tempo system offers ease of use and fast turnaround time for accurate and standardized results.
Tempo STA and Tempo Lab complete the system's menu covering most quality indicator testing needs: Tempo TVC (total viable count), Tempo EC (Escherichia coli), Tempo TC (total coliforms), Tempo CC (coliforms count) and Tempo EB (enterobacteriaceae).
