The Charm Science Peel Plate® YM for yeast and mold testing in foods has received AOAC Research Institute approval 061601. “This is another AOAC-RI approval of the Peel Plate test platform of microbial tests introduced last year,” stated Bob Salter, Vice President of Regulatory and Industrial Affairs.

“The Peel Plate methods perform comparably to traditional microbial methods in 14 different food types with 11 different yeast and mold strains which led to their rapid performance verifications by AOAC-RI.”

Peel Plate tests are simplified culture methods developed for microbiologists and food quality stakeholders. Using traditional standard yeast and mold formulation with grey/blue producing phosphatase enzyme substrate, YM tests produce spots that are quantified over the 3 to 5 day incubation and are used as spoilage and hygienic indicators by food manufacturers. The technology of the Peel Plate YM test is a dried medium in a shallow 47mm plate that automatically diffuses a liquid sample when added to the plate, and, like conventional plates, allows for morphology discerning and picking of cultured organisms for further identification. Simple procedure, convenient stackable design and a formulation resistant to sample pH effects, are all advantages the food industry welcomes.

The Peel Plate range will be on show together with reference method comparison data at this years annual meetings of the International Food Technologists and International Association of Food Protection.