Identifying Staphylococci in Foods within 24 Hours

Oxoid announced the launch of Brilliance™ Staph 24 Agar - a selective and diagnostic chromogenic medium for the isolation and enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci (CPS) in foods, within 24 hours. Staphylococci are found in a broad range of foods, including meat, dairy, bakery and ready-to-eat products. EU regulations on acceptable limits of staphylococci in cheese, milk powder and shellfish are in place; with levels exceeding 1x105CFU/g considered as dangerous. Food producers therefore need to demonstrate that their products contain levels lower than this concentration. Foods that require extensive handling, preparation or are kept at slightly elevated temperatures after manufacture are commonly implicated in staphylococcal food poisoning.

Oxoid Brilliance Staph 24 Agar allows the isolation and enumeration of CPS 24 hours earlier than with traditional media (such as Baird-Parker Egg Yolk Tellurite Agar) which take at least 48 hours for a result. On Brilliance Staph 24 Agar, CPS will grow as dark blue colonies on a clear agar background, allowing rapid, easy identification and enumeration within 24 hours.

Brilliance Staph 24 Agar detects coagulase-positive staphylococci, including pathogenic coagulase-positive, non-aureus staphylococci, such as S. intermedius. It also -prevents growth of nontarget organisms, therefore, eliminating extensive confirmatory testing and miscalculation of cell counts. The Oxoid Brilliance Staph 24 Agar method has been validated and approved by MicroVal according to the ISO 16140 standard against the reference method ISO 6888:1999-Horizontal method for the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) - Part 1: Technique using Baird-Parker Agar medium for meat, dairy, seafood, bakery products and composite food.