Food microbial testing is essential for public health and safety, preventing harmful bacteria and other microorganisms from reaching consumers, where they can cause illness or even death. Microbiology testing of food is also important to prevent product recalls, which are costly and can damage brand reputation. Pathogen testing, whether through traditional cell culture methods, immunoassays or PCR, comes with many challenges, including a number of different interference mechanisms associated with complex and diverse food matrices. These matrix effects create a difficulty for the food industry due to the costs and risks associated with both false positives and false negatives.
The following tips provide an overview of some of the matrix challenges to look for in food microbial testing, as well as best practices to overcome them and prevent inaccurate results.
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