FOOD CONTAMINATION ANALYSIS SYSTEM
Automated system for the identification and source tracking of fungal contamination in food production.
System Overview.
Developed as an EU project to identify and source track fungal contamination in the production of fruit juice using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) technology. The system is able to identify the strain of mould to species level as well as precisely where and when it entered the juice production line.
High throughput robotics are combined with advanced software to provide a powerful tool in the ongoing battle against food contamination. Moulds exist naturally in fruit however some strains can affect the quality and shelf-life of the end product and can also be hazardous to health. This can prove expensive for the producer in terms of rejections, recalls and the associated damage to the brand.
Traditional tests for mould include plate counting, DNA and microscopy and are often performed by an external testing laboratory which can be time consuming and costly. Also crucially such tests will only identify the presence of certain moulds and not the source of the contamination.
Key Features.
High Throughput
100 samples per hour
Better Value
Encourages more routine testing
Fast
Results within 2 days of the isolates being cultivated
Intelligent
Tracks identity of strain and historical data
70-100% Accuracy
Increasing as the spectral library grows
Versatile
Technology can be applied to pathogens and other micro-organisms
