Food Microbiology

Food Microbiology

The German Food and Feed Code (Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch, LFGB) describes legal inspections and guideline values within the framework of food microbiology. The focus is on health protection because microorganisms are the most common cause of food-related illnesses. Microorganisms are microscopic organisms consisting of a single or few cells. Bacteria, fungi and yeasts are some of the types of microorganisms. Viruses are also categorised as microorganisms due to their small size.

Microorganisms can be found everywhere in nature. They are found in soil, water, air and in or on other organisms. If the number of certain microorganisms in food exceeds a specific limit per gram of food, this can endanger consumers’ health. The legislator therefore prescribes a zero tolerance in 25 g food for many pathogenic agents (e.g. salmonella).

Pathogens can be found in animal and plant products. Lack of hygiene, errors in preparation (e.g. insufficient heating) are some of the reasons why food or feed can be contaminated with undesirable microorganisms. The majority of human pathogens are so-called ‘zoonotic pathogens’, which means that they can be transmitted reciprocally from animals to humans and vice versa. Salmonella and Campylobacter are the most important representatives of such pathogens detectable in food. In addition to the microbiological analysis of food, the detection of microorganisms, e.g., from surface swabs in food production, is used for cleaning monitoring.

Analytically, direct detection of the species/ or species group or indirect detection of bacterial toxins is possible.

SureFast^® detection methods offer a wide range of test kits in the field of food microbiology in the form of time-saving multiplex tests, screening methods or single detections. The real-time PCR methods are validated for a wide range of food matrices from drinking water to feed and processed food products. CONGEN offers additional automation solutions for medium and high sample throughput in microbiological analysis.

The basis for sensitive detection is purified nucleic acid extracts. These can be obtained via automated extraction or column purification. For this purpose, CONGEN offers a selection of suitable and validated extraction kits.