3M Food Safety Launches 48-Hour Yeast, Mold Indicator Test

ST. PAUL, Minn.3M Food Safety launched its new 3M Petrifilm Rapid Yeast and Mold Count Plate, an indicator test that enables the detection of yeasts and molds in as little as 48 hours, faster than conventional agar methods that require a five- to seven-day incubation period.

By incorporating a new innovative technology, the 3M Petrifilm Rapid Yeast and Mold Count Plate greatly reduces this delay, improving time-to-result, productivity gains, finished goods inventory and product shelf life.

The sample-ready system uses an easy three-step process: Inoculation, Incubation and Enumeration. With the reduced incubation time of as little as 48 hours along with the flexibility of incubation at 25° C or 28° C, food processors can benefit from a solution that enables clearer, easier and faster than ever colony enumeration. The 3M Petrifilm Rapid Yeast and Mold Count Plate results in blue-colored yeast and mold colonies and contains technological enhancements that prevent colonies from spreading or overlapping, providing superior interpretation.

The technology has been rigorously tested to perform well on both low and high water activity foods, and will be especially useful for processors of grain, fruit and dairy products where yeast and mold control is particularly important. In addition to foods, the 3M Petrifilm Rapid Yeast and Mold Count Plate can also be used for air, swab or surface contact environmental testing. Food processors can obtain a quantitative assessment of both yeast and molds together, or as a separate count by visually differentiating between the two forms of fungi.