Food Microbiology

Our microbiology laboratories in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Melbourne use both traditional and modern rapid technologies to offer a broad range of services to the Australasian food industry. Services include shelf-life testing, food poisoning and spoilage investigations, trace-back of contaminants, cost method development and special project work.

Our microbiology teams can be broadly categorised into four areas of expertise; general microbiology, pathogen testing, bacteria identification and toxin testing.

• Pathogen testing methods determine the presence or absence of Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter, E.coli or Shigella organisms in a specified sample volume or mass.
• General microbiology services range from final product testing to environmental hygiene assessments, the results of which can provide an indication of quality levels in relation to hygiene or product integrity.
• Bacteria identification processes determine the cause of food spoilage or food poisoning within a food processing, manufacturing or storage premises and provide the accurate information necessary to develop an appropriate HACCP Programme.
• Toxin testing analyses the presence or absence of Staphlococcal and Bacillus toxins.

AsureQuality invested $7 million in the automation of its microbiology laboratories with the installation of 'Kiestra'. Automatically calibrated machinery is used to consistently and aseptically prepare and process plates freeing up scientists to interpret results and carry out specialist analyses. The investment delivers increased capacity, absolute accuracy and real time traceability.