DeltaTRAK is offering its new line of FlashCheck real-time bacterial enzyme detection kits that include products that can screen for the presence of harmful bacteria on surfaces of equipment and food. They quickly detect low levels of bacteria associated with contamination and foodborne illness.
Using these FlashCheck kits will allow growers, producers, and processors to identify the presence of bacteria in the product or equipment facility in as little as 20 minutes.
“Field studies and microbial rapid screen validations at the University of California Davis and Michigan State University confirmed that the FlashCheck test kits demonstrated over 98% accuracy when compared to traditional growth media procedures,” said Frederick Wu, president and chief executive officer of DeltaTRAK. “In addition to being extremely accurate, the kits are inexpensive, easy to use, and produce results in 20 minutes as compared with 48 hours for other tests. This means users can test more often and thereby reduce the chances of food contamination going undetected.”
FlashCheck technology uses an enzyme detection system consisting of synthetic substrates, which in the presence of enzymes specific to certain microorganisms causes a chemical reaction. The kits can screen for the presence of bacteria on surfaces, equipment, and food; or in water and beverages. Kits will be offered in manual swab/strip formats or a handheld fluorometer format.
Antigen/antibody technologies commonly used for bacterial detection—such as ELISA, culture, and PCR—tend to be slow, cumbersome, and expensive. ATP tests are ineffective for bacteria detection as they test only for the ATP molecule which is present in all organic matter, and can result in many false positive results. With enzyme detection, users will know if harmful bacteria are present. Additionally, users can significantly cut the time it takes to determine the presence or absence of bacteria.
Additional details can be found at www.deltatrak.com.
