Lab paddle blender and sponge swab combo proves worth in production hygiene
Seward has highlighted the effective use of its Stomacher technology in combination with sponge swabs for hygiene monitoring and biosecurity applications.
Hygiene monitoring in food and pharmaceutical production facilities and clinical environments requires simple sampling techniques with excellent microbial recovery rates across a spectrum of different species. A recent study1 has confirmed the effectiveness of the combined sponge swab and Stomacher sampling methodology for sampling a large surface area.
This popular sampling method utilises sponge swabs pre-dosed with buffer to swab a surface and then, to recover the micro flora, the sponge swabs are processed in the Stomacher 400 circulator. A number of suppliers such as 3M and Technical Services Consultants Ltd offer pre-manufactured devices, which work very effectively in Stomacher products. Various different approaches can be applied, processing either pooled samples in the Stomacher 400 or individual swabs in the Stomacher 80 Biomaster.
Owing to the efficacy of the Stomacher and sponge swab combination, it has also been adopted in more critical fields such as biosecurity. Security services on both sides of the Atlantic have recently adopted the technique to detect and monitor the potential spread of weaponised bacterial contaminates such as Bacillus anthracis.
The effectiveness of the sponge and Stomacher technique over the swab technique for sample collection is demonstrated in a recent paper1 concerning the clinical environment and the monitoring of Acinetobacter baumannii. The sponge and Stomacher technique allow for a greater surface area to be tested than achievable with a swab head. This also means that the sponge method delivers greater sensitivity.
1Thom K.A. et al. Comparison of swab and sponge methodologies for identification of Acinetobacter baumannii from the hospital environment. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 2012, 50(6):2140.
Seward Ltd, www.seward.co.uk.