Food Testing Services
Food is naturally a wide classification, ranging from raw ingredients to completed products: anything intended for human or animal consumption. I.G. MicroMed has a great deal of experience testing meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, agricultural products, beverages, flavourings and vegetarian dishes – and any other consumable product. Clients in the food industry come to us for a single test or multiple parameters.
The main tests in this area are for human food-borne pathogens: listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, campylobacter, salmonella and Shiga-Toxin E. Coli being the most common. We also test for bacterial indicators, such as coliforms, generic e. Coli, aerobic plate count and yeast and mold. We can perform a food poisoning package that tests for the common bacterial indicators and pathogens that cause illness.
We can test for allergens, including milk, egg, gluten, soy and peanut – this is a growing concern for the food industry as these ingredients need to be stated on product labeling. Clients often use this service to determine the suitability of newly sourced ingredients.
We also do a range of mycotoxin testing, including aflatoxins which are caused by molds developing in grain and peanuts, and ochratoxins, which can be found in cereals, coffee, dried fruit and red wine.
Additionally we can provide analysis to support shelf life studies. A simple pH and/or Water Activity can indicate shelf stability or we can provide a range of pathogens and indicator tests to prove food safety during your product shelf life.
We utilize approved methods for the following testing:
- Standard Plate Count (Aerobic Plate Count)
- Yeast and Mold
- Total and Fecal coliforms by MPN
- Total Coliforms by Petrifilm
- Escherichia coli ( E. Coli)
- Escherichia coli 0157:H7
by Rapid GDS PCR method - Shiga-Toxin E. Coli by Rapid GDS PCR method
- Listeria monocytogenes by conventional methods
- Listeria monocytogenes
by Rapid GDS PCR method
- Listeria species by Rapid GDS PCR method
- Salmonella Species by conventional methods
- Salmonella Species by Rapid GDS PCR method
- Campylobacter species
- Clostridium perfringens
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Shelf Life Studies
- Water Activity (aW)
- pH
- Moisture
- Salt - Quantab Chloride Titrator
- Challenge Test - Microbial Log Reduction
- Bone Particle Count
- Allergens (Gluten, Soy, Milk, Almond, Peanut, Sesame, Egg)
- Mycotoxins (Aflatoxin, Ochratoxin, Vomitoxin)
- Sterility Test(s) (Cans - MFHPB -01)
- Anaerobic Plate Count
- Psychrotrophic Plate Count
- Thermophilic Plate Count
- Acidophilic Bacteria
- Bacillus cereus
- Enterobacter Species
- Enterococcus species
- Lactobacillus species
- Fecal Streptococcus
- Lactobacillus species
- Legionella
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Pseudomonas species
- Shigella species
- Vibrio parahaemolyticus
- Bacterial Identification(s)
- Fungal Identification(s)
- Mold Identification(s)
- Microscopic Examination(s)
- Aerobic Sporeformers
- Anaerobic Sporeformers
- Heat Resistant Mold
*These are just the most common tests we perform. Let us know if you require something not listed.
I.G. MicroMed is accredited by the Standards Council of Canada
for a number of tests performed on food
and food related products.