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Microbiology Lab Testing Services
Ensuring your food products are safe from microbiological contaminants is one of the most important steps you can take before sending them out to market. In fact, it’s often a legislative requirement around the world at all stages of development. That’s why you need Log10 to ensure quality and safety before you allow your food and drink products to be consumed.
Food Pathogen Testing Lab
Log10 is a premier microbiology lab testing company in the United States because of our singular focus and dedication to researching, testing for and eliminating foodborne pathogens from the food manufacturing chain. We perform microbiology testing of food products including meat and meat products, poultry and other high-risk products from our state-of-the-art micro testing labs in Oklahoma. These microbiology food testing laboratories can determine contamination rapidly and accurately so that you can prevent outbreaks before they occur or quickly get your business back on track in the event of a crisis.
Contact a Food Pathogen Testing Expert
Log10 Food Safety Microbiological Testing Capabilities
Why should your search for the best food microbiological testing lab in the U.S. end with Log10? Because we make sure each feature of our testing adheres to the strictest industry standards you could possibly manage.
Our microbiology experts use the best food microbial testing methods and the best equipment. Our state-of-the-art microbiological testing facilities include biological level II (BSL2) pathogen labs. Our experienced, highly-trained staff uses Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) test methods to ensure the quality of our testing, and we perform all our services according to ISO 17025 standards.
Microbiological Testing in the Food Industry
We perform all the major microorganisms and bacterial pathogen tests that may threaten your food production facility. Our extensive research methods allow us to identify and isolate indicator organisms such as:
- Aerobic Plate Count
- Anaerobic Plate Count
- Coliforms
- Lactic Acid Bacteria
- E.coli
- Enterobacteriacea
- Lactobacilli
- Yeast
- Mold
Foodborne Pathogen Testing In The Food Industry
We can also screen for some of the most potentially hazardous foodborne pathogens, including:
- Campylobacter
- E.coli O157:H7
- Listeria monocytogenes
- Listeria species
- Salmonella
- Shiga Toxin Producing E.coli
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Yersinia
- Clostridium
Contact our expert team for more information.
What Is Microbiology Testing?
Throughout production, many food products come into contact with various microorganisms. While many of these microbes are harmless, others have the potential to contaminate your food products and harm your consumers’ health. The role of microbiological testing is to identify these microorganisms and treat them quickly before they’re sent out to market or after an outbreak has occurred. Most tests come back in as little as one to two days.
Microbiology testing is commonly performed on meat and meat products. Microbiological analysis of meat can uncover harmful contaminants such as e. Coli, which can be transferred from a cow’s intestines to the meat after slaughter, or Salmonella, a common microbiological contaminant of chicken and eggs.
It’s essential for you to be honest with the lab about the purpose and necessity of microbiological tests before testing begins, such as whether you think microbial contamination has already occurred. That way, the lab can use proper testing methods to test and treat any underlying issues more accurately. With the proper tools, our specialists can effectively pinpoint the type of microbiological contamination present and address it quickly to help get your business back to normal operations.
Why Perform Microbiology Testing of Food Products?
Any food or beverage company can benefit from microbial analysis of their food products. Whether your produce will be consumed directly by customers or prepared at home or in a restaurant, it’s critical to make sure you’re well within FDA guidelines as you make foods and drinks that are safe for consumers. Microbiological testing will help you:
- Comply with federal regulations: Federal regulations require various types of food testing before you can send your products to market — including microbiology tests. While microbiological tests make up only a portion of the analytical tests needed to ensure food safety, they’re an essential priority.
- Improve consumers’ health and wellbeing: As a company in the food and beverage industry, you have immense power over your end users’ safety and health. Microbiological tests can assure you that your products are safe for consumption and won’t harm the people or animals who use them. If we find any harmful contaminants, we can help you determine the best solution to fix your products before putting them on the shelves.
- Find the best solutions after an outbreak: If you do experience an outbreak, we provide several support services and can guide you toward the next steps that you should take to regain FDA compliance and manage your products during this time. Our probiotic treatments can fight off microbiological contamination almost immediately.
Speak to a microbiology expert for more information on how this testing can benefit your company.
Popular Microbiological Testing Methods
Microbiological testing labs use many methods and types of tests to determine the presence of microbial contaminants. This wide variety of tools ensures a higher level of service in finding as many types of microbial contaminants possible.
Among these tests, three are the most common — polymerase chain reaction testing, immunoassays and culture media.
1. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Testing
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has become one of the most common microbiological testing methods since its development in the 1980s. It’s often faster and more accurate than traditional methods.
PCR tests replicate the DNA or RNA unique to specific microorganisms and pathogens. If the DNA or RNA sequence exists within the sample — even in minute amounts — the test can make billions of copies to determine the contaminant’s presence with high probability.
As one of the most reliable forms of testing, PCR tests can determine whether a microbiological contaminant is present within a sample, although few tests can determine how many of each the sample contains.
2. Immunoassays
Immunoassays test for the presence of specific microorganisms in a fluid sample. They function based on the binding that naturally occurs between an antibody and the contaminant. If the microbe being tested for is present, it will bind with the antibody introduced by the immunoassay to signal a positive reaction. If the immunoassay does not detect any reactions after introducing the sample to the microbe’s antibody, the results will come back negative.
Immunoassays are useful in determining whether specific microbiological contaminants are present in many types of produce. However, they do not usually specify how many of each exist within the sample.
3. Culture Media
A culture medium — one of the more traditional testing methods — is a liquid or solid applied to the sample to support the growth of any microbes that might be present. By enhancing microbial growth and cultivating various microorganisms, technicians gain a better understanding of which types of harmful organisms and pathogens are present. They can use a microscope and different biochemical techniques to see and differentiate between microorganisms.
This method determines both what kind of contaminants might be present and how many there might be within the sample.
Culture media can be used on many kinds of fresh and ready-made foods. However, they’re not always effective in as many types of food products as immunoassay and PCR testing, so the method isn’t used as often as it used to be.
Log10 Commercial Microbiological Testing Labs for the Food Processing Industry
Log10’s premier microbiological testing labs in Oklahoma are exactly what you need to isolate and identify microbiological contamination at your facility, whether you’re a farmer, agricultural plant manager, pet feed or human food processor of food storage or a distribution professional.
We provide microbiology testing in the USA and also for companies all over the world. To ensure peace of mind for yourself, your employees, other industries along your supply chain and most of all, your consumers, you need the high-quality microbiological testing of poultry, meat and other food products that Log10 can provide.
To find out more about our microbiology food testing laboratory and how we can use them to improve the health and safety of your food service facility, contact us today.