The fast determination of the total viable count (TVC) in slaughtered and processed meat has been a challenge. Conventional microbiology (plate tests) take around three days to deliver a result. Now researchers in Bavaria, Germany, have developed a device that can determine TVC in meat in seconds.
The meat industry has often hit the headlines in newspapers due to scandals. Cases like adulteration of beef meat with horse meat in Britain/Ireland, the admixtures of slaughterhouse waste to meat for Döner skewers in Germany and the sale of large quantities of expired meat in Brazil which caused major concern to consumers and authorities alike. And the latter is where the new device can help.
The device is based on non-destructive, non-invasive, fluorescence spectroscopy. It analyzes certain breakdown products (metabolites) of bacteria. From the metabolite concentration, it calculates the total number of bacteria cells on the meat. At this point in time, the device cannot analyze through the packaging film, but this additional feature is under development. The measurement itself only lasts approximately three seconds. The device can store approximately 2000 measurements before you have to transfer the data via a USB cable to a PC. The detection range is between 100 to 100 million colony forming units (CFU).
The device will prove useful in a great number of situations to quickly determine the state of fresh meat. It comes with some limitations though: for each type of fresh meat, a separate set of reference data will have to be generated. The company is working on that. And it currently only works for fresh meat. If spice mixes have been added, it is not clear if the device can still accurately determine the number of bacteria. Also, if fraudsters lace the meat with formaldehyde – as it recently happened a number of times – will the device be able to detect the presence of formaldehyde? And, last but not least, it cannot detect low-number pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes or Staphylococcus aureus.
The device in its current form does not provide a one-stop solution for on-site, handheld microbiological analysis. However, it can certainly be considered a major advancement in the fast quantification of TVC.
Is this topic relevant to your business?
Do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to evaluate the opportunities and challenges of hand-held devices for your business. Also, we recommend you read our article on Consumer Analytical Devices, published in the Journal of AOAC International from January this year (2018).
