Interview: Vermicon talks about its FlowVIT bacterial test kits

At BrauBeviale 2018, FoodBev’s Alex Clere spoke with Richard Sold, sales representative for Vermicon, which exhibited the FlowVIT bacterial analysis test kit for use within the beverage industry.

The test kits work in conjunction with cytometers, developed in collaboration with Sysmex, that allow manufacturers to identify alicyclobacillus in juice or lactic acid bacteria in beer.

The test kits make the analysis easier and quicker, taking just 48 hours to return a result.

Sold explained: “You are making a lab analysis for staining the bacteria. It takes about two and a half hours, and after that you have two possibilities: the first possibility is that you go to the fluorescence microscope to see the fluorescence colour under the microscope and you make the decision – is it a positive or negative result – on your own. The second, and new, alternative is that we combined our VIT technology with flow cytometry, so after the staining of the bacteria you go to a flow cytometer, put it into the flow, and the machine decides whether it was a positive or negative result.

“We offer them a solution that is easier by working with the company Sysmex-Partec. They’re the manufacturer of the flow cytometry and now they have a very easy solution, so two technologies come together – you have flow cytometry and now a specific test for the flow cytometry.”

If beverage producers identify bacterial contamination, they can then take steps to rectify the problem – but Vermicon’s solution, together with Sysmex, helps to eliminate the arduous and cost-intensive processes associated with other techniques.

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Presented and edited by: Alex Clere