For more information regarding this event click the link below.

IAFP'S EUROPEAN SYMPOSIUM ON FOOD SAFETY 2024 

Since 2005, IAFP's European Symposium has been shaping the future of food safety by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas with colleagues from across Europe working in industry, government, and academia. The Symposium is an excellent forum to gain knowledge about the latest developments and techniques in food science and safety. The symposium will be held 30 April - 2 May in Geneva, Switzerland.

Evaluation of Easy Plate EB Performance, a Novel Ready-to-Use Culture Medium for Detecting Enterobacteriaceae 

Introduction :

Easy Plate is a Ready-to-Use (RTU) medium marketed as Medi-Ca since 2014 and rebranded by Kikkoman Biochemifa Company in 2021. Compared to conventional plate media, RTU medium offers various advantages, including faster time to results, ease of use, and sustainability.

Purpose: 

In this study, the performance of a newly developed RTU medium for Enterobacteriaceae, Easy Plate EB (medium A), was evaluated by comparing it with three commercially available Enterobacteriaceae media in Japan: RTU media B and C and VRBG agar medium (VRBG). 

Methods:

Both the inclusivity and exclusivity performance of 63 strains including 44 Enterobacteriaceae strains were assessed, and correlation analysis was conducted on 62 food matrices including meat, seafood, vegetables, dairy products, and prepared food. MALDI-TOF MS was used to identify bacterial species detected in samples that exhibited differences in colony count during correlation analysis. 

Results:

All Enterobacteriaceae strains tested were positive, three of the non-Enterobacteriaceae strains tested were positive, and the other 16 tested negative. The correlation coefficients between medium A and VRBG, medium B, and medium C were 0.926, 0.988, and 0.963, respectively. The number of colonies that grew on medium A in 10 foods was 10 times higher than on VRBG, so the colonies were isolated, identified, and confirmed as Enterobacteriaceae. The isolated strains were pre-cultured in tryptic soy broth medium, they were tested in each medium and found to grow without significant differences in numbers. 

Significance: 

This new RTU medium for Enterobacteriaceae was found to have the same selective performance and high correlation with existing RTU media and agar medium. It was demonstrated that the method has the potential to detect bacteria in food more efficiently than VRBG.