How Microbiology Testing Directly Impacts Food Safety in America

The number one responsibility of any business supporting the production or sale of a food product is to ensure food safety and food quality. Whether you’re an upstart food entrepreneur or a C-suite food executive, safety should be your paramount concern. Foodborne diseases are a significant threat to human health. In fact, they cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

That is why microbiology testing plays such a critical role in food testing. When conducted correctly, it can effectively limit human interactions with unsafe food items.

How Does Microbiology Testing and Service Improve Food Safety?

Medallion Labs microbiologists apply their professional knowledge to provide expertise in analyzing pathogens, spoilage microorganisms, yogurt cultures, probiotics and more. The detection of pathogens can help ensure the quality and safety of foods from farm to table through product development, to market straight to the consumer’s home. Our professionals can also help food companies design and run microbiological challenge studies to implement their food safety/quality plan. Our full range of Microbiology tests is shown below.

• Aerobic Plate Count
• Anaerobic Plate Count
• Bacillus cereus
• Coliforms
• Coliforms (High Sensitivity Petrifilm)
• E. coli
• Enterobacteriaceae
• Lactic Acid Bacteria
• Listeria genus 25g
• Listeria genus 125g
• Listeria monocytogenes 25g
• Listeria monocytogenes 125g
• Mold
• Salmonella 25g
• Salmonella 375g
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Yeast
• Yeast and Mold
• Yeast and Mold Low water activity

What Types Of Foods Support Rapid Bacterial Growth?

Meat, poultry, milk, eggs, shellfish, crustaceans, baked potatoes, sprouts, sliced melons, cut leafy vegetables, tofu, and fish are some of the most common foods that support bacterial growth, but any protein-rich foods, low-acid foods, and/or foods with high water content can all contaminated by pathogens.

How Frequently is Microbiology Testing Required to Ensure Food Safety?

Medallion Labs professionals can provide consultation services to help guide you in the process of developing testing plans or challenge studies to support your food safety initiatives and identify potential bacteria in food production. However, keep in mind, the guidance might need to be unique to different processing, different food, etc. Ideally, you should have a microbiologist or food safety expert on staff to lead the design of the food safety/quality test plan.

How Long Does Microbiology Testing for Food Take?

Whether it's a microbiology test or another one of our test offerings, every food company wants their results as fast as possible. But fast isn’t always a possibility. Nothing we do in the lab will make bugs grow faster. The process takes time. That said, microbiology testing does not take an eternity. In most situations, you can expect results in seven to nine business days. However, customers are often able to see some (not all) test results in as few as five business days.

Once the testing is completed in our microbiology lab, Medallion Labs customers are typically interested in learning about ways to make their food product safer. While we can make good recommendations, we are not able to develop specific testing plans that work to ensure a specific food product is safe to eat. This is why it’s important for customers to connect with an on-staff microbiologist or hire one as a consultant.

Food Safety Starts With Effective Microbiology Testing

We share the goal of helping our customers deliver safer foods and food manufacturing processes for the benefit of all consumers. We appreciate the opportunity to provide reliable and actionable microbiology-focused analytical results that can help support safe operations and reduce the number of people who contract foodborne illnesses each year. Let’s connect and make the dinner table safer. If you have questions about microbiology testing in beverages or food, please reach out to Medallion Labs directly. We are here and excited to help!