New Microbial Identification Device offers revolutionary approach to ensuring food safety

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 76 million cases of food borne disease occur each year in the United States. While the great majority of these cases are mild and cause symptoms for only a day or two, the more serious cases cause 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths each year according to the CDC report. Additional CDC studies report a 6 to 9% annual increase in Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) contamination in the U.S., with 278,000 people hospitalized for MRSA related infections in 2007. What is needed in this environment is a device that can identify microbial contamination faster and cheaper to enable hospital patient screening for MRSA and stop distribution of contaminated foods, according to representatives from Micro Identification Technologies (MIT), who have announced the successful development of the MIT 1000.

 “We view our MIT 1000 system as an up and coming technology that could have a significant impact on reducing the instances of food contamination reaching the consumer,” says John Ricardi, Executive Vice President and COO of MIT. Slated for a rollout to a worldwide market by the end of next quarter, the MIT 1000 is a laser-based device capable of identifying 23 different species of bacteria in a much shorter time frame and at significantly lower cost than what has been the standard testing method for the last 100 plus years according to Ricardi. “When you and I were in high school biology class, we were taught how to culture a bacteria in a Petri dish, have the bacteria grow, put it on a slide, look at it under a microscope and be able to identify it and say ‘yeah, that’s e-coli’. 

“That’s still pretty much how bacterial identification is done today. A food processor will take a scraping from a food product and send it to a trained microbiologist who will culture and examine it in the lab. The minimal turnaround time for results is usually 48 to 72 hours,” Ricardi continued.  “Our system can analyze and identify pathogenic bacteria in about 10 minutes.”

According to the technical data provided by Ricardi, the device uses the principles of light scattering to discriminate various bacteria cells that are suspended in filtered water. The MIT 1000 uses 35 photo detectors that surround the sample vial and collect light scattering intensities that are generated when a cell intersects the laser beam. As incident laser light reflects off the bacteria’s outer surface and penetrates the body of the bacterium, the light interacts with any structural features and eventually emerges from inside the cell. These light patterns are unique for each species and thereby create a signature that is captured and statistically analyzed by MIT’s proprietary software that contains an extensive database of values for each bacterium seen by the photo detectors. Identification occurs when 10-50 organisms are analyzed, and typically takes less than 10 minutes.

According to Ricardi, the MIT 1000 brings two things to the market that significantly differentiate the device from other Rapid System products: time to pathogen ID --10 minutes vs. 10 hours --  and ease of use – non-technical staff can operate it with a half day of training vs. a professional microbiologist.  Additionally, these key elements lead to significant cost savings -- approximately ten cents per test compared to an average rapid ID cost of $2.85 per test according to a report by Strategic Consulting, Inc., a leading knowledge resource in industrial diagnostics.

“While our product has testing applications in multiple industries such as Clinical Diagnostics, Pharmaceuticals, Semi-Conductors and Drinking Water, at present, MIT is focusing on entering the Food Processing market first” explains Ricardi. “We believe we are poised to take advantage of the tremendous growth in testing needs within the food industry. Food sourcing (for the U.S.) has become more global while at the same time there is competing pressure within the food industry to reduce costs and increase profits. As a result, product is moving through the supply chain at increased speed and volume, which opens the door for more contamination events. While no system can resolve the contamination issues 100%, we believe our system offers a time-saving and cost effective solution to help alleviate some of the problem.”

 

When asked about a timeline for commercialization, Ricardi stated that MIT plans to use strategic partnerships to bring their product to market and grow the business. “There isn’t any R&D left to do, it’s all engineering now. We’ve proven that the technology works, now it’s a matter of getting it to market as quickly as possible.” To do that, MIT has lined up a global manufacturer and a distribution network in 10 countries outside the U.S. according to Ricardi. “We are looking for additional strategic partners that have global distribution capabilities so we can grow sales at the rate we desire. We plan to have the first models ready for delivery by midsummer.” If all goes according to plan, Ricardi stated that MIT should be cash flow positive within one year.

 

Michael J. Deosdede covers the Biotech Sector as a freelancer for various publications.