Oxoid gains European and Australian distribution rights for Dupont Qualicon automated pathogen screening system
DuPont Qualicon has appointed Oxoid as distributor in Europe and Australia for its highly-acclaimed Bax system, an automated testing platform for food-borne pathogens.
Bax uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology to accurately detect the presence or absence of Salmonella, E.
coli O157:H7, Listeria species and Listeria monocytogenes in food and environmental samples in just a few hours.
Billed by DuPont Qualicon as "an easy and reliable way for food laboratories to perform highly accurate testing for implementing food safety programmes," the Bax system makes PCR user-friendly by combining all the necessary reagents and a positive control into a convenient pre-packaged tablet.
Samples are prepared and simply loaded into the instrument for 'walk-away' processing on a combined automated cycler and detection unit.
The results, seen as a colour-coded 'plus' for positive or 'minus' for negative, are clearly displayed on the system's own Windows NT computer workstation which is programmed to track and store them electronically.
A single protocol is used for all pathogens, allowing users to test for multiple targets in a single run, up to 96 samples per batch.
Because it is genetics based, the Bax system provides superior sensitivity and can detect E.coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella in food or from the environment as quickly as the day after sampling.
The system is designed to deliver reproducible results based on DNA fragments that are unique to the target.
Testing is undertaken using a closed-cap process, where all the necessary primers, polymerase enzymes and nucleotides are combined into single tablets packaged in tubes for ease of use.
Taken together, these factors effectively eliminate the potential for contamination and operator error.
"We are delighted to be working with DuPont Qualicon", says Patrick Roberts, vice president, sales and marketing at Oxoid.
"The automated Bax system with its PCR technology and large batch processing capability allows food companies to obtain definitive microbiological results within hours rather than days, enabling products to be released quickly and with total confidence.
It also helps to safeguard companies' reputations, avoiding the expense and potentially disastrous business consequences of product recalls.
The Bax system is an excellent complement to Oxoid's extensive product portfolio of manual systems for the culture, enumeration and detection of food-borne pathogens." "We are very pleased to have Oxoid on board as our distributor in Europe and Australia," adds Jon Owen, global director, sales and marketing for DuPont Qualicon.
"As a leading supplier to microbiology laboratories with local offices and personnel in 10 locations throughout Europe, as well as in Australia, Oxoid is ideally placed to offer customers a high level of service and technical support for the DuPont Qualicon product range." Oxoid also will be distributing DuPont Qualicon's RiboPrinter microbial characterisation system in Europe and Australia.
This system provides an automated genetic fingerprint of any bacterium in less than eight hours, allowing laboratories to characterise spoilage organisms, pathogens, beneficial organisms or any bacterium of particular significance to food products being tested.
