In addition to the foodproof® Enterobacteriaceae plus Cronobacter Detection Kit, BIOTECON Diagnostics has now launched a new lyophilized foodproof® real-time PCR-test for the specific detection of all Cronobacter species within 24 h.

Bacteria species belonging to the genus Cronobacter are severe human pathogens. The mortality rate after infection is very high high (40 – 80%). Cronobacter often occurs in infant formula. Therefore, these organisms pose a serious threat for the newborn.

Traditional microbiological detection methods for Cronobacter including enrichment, isolation on agar-plates and confirmatory tests usually need several days. To reduce the time-to-result significantly, alternative rapid methods are necessary.

BIOTECON Diagnostics has now developed the ultra-sensitive lyophilized foodproof® Cronobacter Detection LyoKit for the 24 h detection of all species of the genus Cronobacter.

In addition, the company provides several DNA-extraction kits for all kind of tasks and throughput, like the foodproof® StarPrep One Kit for manual extraction, the foodproof® StarPrep One Kit 8-strip protocol for high-throughput manual extraction in deep-well plates or the foodproof® Magnetic Preparation Kit IV for the fast automated DNA-extraction with the King Fischer FlexTM instrument.

Enrichment of the food samples takes place in the standard ISO enrichment broth, buffered peptone water (BPW) at 37°C for 18 +/- 2 h.

For the specific detection of Cronobacter spp. the foodproof® Cronobacter Detection LyoKit uses the same primers and probes as the foodproof® Enterobacteriaceae plus Cronobacter Detection Kit which has been MicroVal validated according to ISO 16140 (2007-LR08091920 and 2011-LR 39). Some of the world biggest suppliers of baby food have been using this kit for several years.

The foodproof® Cronobacter Detection LyoKit is an equal alternative for such baby food producers and testing laboratories, which look for the pathogenic genus Cronobacter spp. only, and not additionally for Enterobacteriaceae as indicator organisms.

The new kit has been validated with all relevant food groups including infant formula with and without probiotics, skim milk powder, human fortifier, sucrose, environmental samples and others.

More details at www.bc-diagnostics.com