Tag: Analytical Instruments

Bioburden Testing and Rapid Microbiology Methods

In the realm of pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology industries, ensuring product safety and compliance with stringent regulatory standards is paramount. One of the critical quality control processes that aid in achieving this goal is bioburden testing. This essential procedure involves the quantification and identification of microbial load on products, packaging, and raw materials. At Chemetrix, we understand the significance of this process and the need for reliable and efficient instruments. This is where Veolia’s advanced solutions come into play, providing robust support for bioburden testing to enhance quality control measures.

 

 

What is bioburden testing?

Bioburden testing is the measurement of the microbial load, or the number of viable microorganisms present on a product, surface, or in a solution. This test is crucial in various stages of manufacturing, particularly for sterile products, as it ensures that the bioburden levels are within acceptable limits before sterilisation. By identifying and quantifying the microorganisms present, manufacturers can assess the effectiveness of their cleaning, disinfection, and sterilisation processes.

The results from bioburden tests are used to validate and monitor the manufacturing processes, ensuring that they consistently produce products that meet safety and efficacy standards. Regular bioburden testing helps in detecting contamination issues early, preventing potential product recalls and safeguarding consumer health.

The necessity of bioburden testing in quality control

Bioburden testing is not just a regulatory requirement but a critical aspect of quality control that offers numerous benefits:

  1. Ensures sterility: For products that must be sterile, such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and surgical instruments, bioburden testing ensures that the sterilisation processes are effective. Any surviving microorganisms can pose serious health risks to patients.
  2. Regulatory compliance: Regulatory bodies like the FDA and EMA mandate bioburden testing as part of the manufacturing process. Non-compliance can lead to severe penalties, product recalls, and damage to a company’s reputation.
  3. Process validation and control: Bioburden testing helps in validating and controlling manufacturing processes. By understanding the microbial load at various stages, manufacturers can fine-tune their processes to minimise contamination risks.
  4. Risk management: Identifying the types and quantities of microorganisms present allows for better risk management. This proactive approach helps in implementing corrective actions before any significant issues arise.

Watch our webinar on Testing Quality Attributes of Water for Pharmaceutical Production >

 

How Veolia’s instruments facilitate bioburden testing

Veolia offers a range of advanced instruments designed to streamline and enhance the bioburden testing process. Here’s how their technology can assist:

  1. Automated sampling and analysis: Veolia’s automated systems ensure precise and consistent sampling and analysis, reducing human error and improving reliability. These systems can handle high sample volumes efficiently, making them ideal for large-scale operations.
  2. Real-time monitoring: Veolia’s instruments offer real-time monitoring of microbial loads, providing immediate feedback on contamination levels. This capability allows for quicker decision-making and timely corrective actions, ensuring continuous control over the production process.
  3. Advanced filtration systems: Effective filtration is crucial in bioburden testing, and Veolia’s advanced filtration systems ensure that even the smallest microorganisms are captured and analysed accurately. These systems are designed to handle various sample types, from liquids to solids, ensuring versatility in testing.
  4. Comprehensive data management: Data integrity and traceability are critical in bioburden testing. Veolia’s instruments come with integrated data management solutions that ensure all test results are accurately recorded, stored, and easily accessible for audits and regulatory inspections.

 

 

Addressing bioburden effectively has yielded remarkable benefits across various industries, with numerous success stories underscoring its importance. Veolia’s cutting-edge bioburden testing instruments have played a crucial role in these successes. Their precision and efficiency in detecting and quantifying microbial presence have empowered companies to maintain stringent quality standards, ensuring the safety and efficacy of their products.

Download our whitepaper on Rapid Microbial Method Verification Testing for USP >

 

By investing in robust bioburden testing solutions, businesses can visualise a future where product recalls and contamination issues are drastically minimised. This proactive approach not only safeguards public health but also reinforces consumer trust, driving long-term growth and success. Embracing bioburden testing is not just a compliance measure; it is a strategic move towards achieving excellence in quality control and securing a competitive edge in the market.

Veolia’s state-of-the-art instruments offer unparalleled precision and reliability, empowering businesses to tackle microbial contamination with confidence. To learn more about how Veolia’s innovative solutions can enhance your bioburden testing processes and drive success, connect with Chemetrix today. Our team is ready to provide expert guidance and support, helping you achieve excellence in quality control and secure a competitive edge in the market.

 

Combating PFAS ‘The Forever Chemical’ Contamination

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products since the 1940s due to their useful properties. There are thousands of different PFAS, some of which have been more widely used and studied than others.

Nothing about PFAS – from how they are made, to their unique characteristics, to how they need to be analysed – is easy. These chemicals were developed to simplify our lives, but now decades later, they have become a serious problem due to their elusive and persistent nature, hence the nickname ‘The Forever Chemical.’ What is clear is that PFAS contamination is an environmental and growing health issue, but what is less clear is how to address and manage this issue.

 

The importance of PFAS

PFAS are important because they have been widely used in industry and manufacturing due to their unique chemical properties; properties that make them heat-resistant, able to repel water, and close to indestructible. PFAS compounds have been used in many applications such as non-stick cookware, stain-repellent clothes, food contact materials, detergents, cleaning products, and fire-fighting foams.

The unfortunate consequence of PFAS

For many years, PFAS were thought to be inert and nontoxic and were extensively used with little thought for environmental disposal or ecological impact. It was not until early this century that the extent of PFAS global contamination was first realised. There are over 4000 PFAS compounds thought to have been manufactured and are now potentially in the environment globally.

The research on PFAS compounds has identified them as being persistent and bio accumulative, and their widespread use has led to them being almost ubiquitous in the environment. Because PFAS do not break down, they enter the environment through production or waste streams. In South Africa, the presence of PFAS has been detected in some water sources, including rivers and dams.

“PFAS are a new style of pollutants that don’t follow the ‘rules’ of traditional organic pollutants. This is why regulators and scientists, unfortunately, failed to predict how these chemicals would move through the environment, and why we now have a serious problem of such widespread PFAS contamination of drinking water, agricultural land, and the domestic environment.”

– Bradley Clarke, senior lecturer in Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Science, at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and an Agilent collaborator.

 

PFAS exposure and human health

People can be exposed to low levels of PFAS compounds through consumer products that contain PFAS, for example, carpets, leather and apparel, textiles, paper and packaging materials, and non-stick cookware. Drinking water can also be a source of exposure in communities where these chemicals have contaminated water supplies, such as an industrial facility where PFAS were produced, or used to manufacture other products, or an oil refinery, airfield or other location at which PFAS may have been used for firefighting.

Download our eBook Guide to Targeted Quantification and Screening of PFAS Compounds in Environmental Matrices >

Helping scientists learn more about PFAS

PFAS contamination is a complex issue. While knowledge about PFAS compounds and their potential health effects has grown, many questions remain unanswered. It’s also a global issue and collaborative research allows countries to share knowledge, best practices, and effective solutions.

Watch our webinar on Strategies to Optimise Performance of PFAS Analysis >

Committed to helping scientists and regulators around the world solve these water issues to provide safe and sustainable water sources for everyone, Agilent has recently developed a protocol for the analysis of PFASs in drinking water using the Agilent Ultivo triple quadrupole LC/MS. Working with leading researchers around the world, Agilent has also developed a method for extracting PFASs in drinking water using Agilent Offline Solid Phase Extraction and an Agilent LC/MS/MS system with a PFAS-free 1290 Infinity II LC System.

Agilent Ultivo LC/MSMS

 

Agilent 1290 Infinity II 2D-LC System

 

Providing scientists with measurement and identification technology solutions to accurately analyze PFAS chemicals in water is a critical first step for estimating human exposure and potential risk. Robust analytical techniques that can provide unbiased quantitative and qualitative data on these PFAS pollutants at trace levels are necessary for further understanding their environmental fate, ecological impacts, and impacts on public health. These analytical techniques and the fundamental data they generate will allow scientists and regulators to make informed assessments of PFAS use in modern society.

Watch our webinar on The PFAS Lab of the Future >

Although PFAS research on the African continent is not extensive as yet, the growing awareness and need to understand these chemicals for policy and regulation is necessary. As an analytical instrument supplier and solutions provider for laboratories, Chemetrix is committed to helping combat the “Forever Chemical” challenge.

Parts of this article have been adapted from the original published by Agilent.

Revolutionising Nutrition: The Rise of Alternative Proteins

The food industry is experiencing a significant shift as alternative proteins rise in popularity. These non-animal-based foods, ingredients, and beverages, including plant-based, cell culture-based, and fermentation-based proteins, offer a new frontier in nutrition and sustainability. Designed to mimic the taste, texture, and nutritional profiles of traditional animal proteins, alternative proteins have come a long way from the mock meats of the past. The market for these products is booming, projected to surpass $290 billion by 2030, driven by their nutritional benefits, environmental sustainability, and potential to enhance food security.

Today, the industry for alternative proteins has technology on their side and are continuously turning to data and analysis to find solutions that will make these increasingly popular food items more appealing to a wider consumer base. And while meat or burgers grown in a lab does grab headlines, it’s a far cry from the products found in grocery stores that are more practical and cost-effective. Making better alternative protein products isn’t as easy as throwing lentils into the mix and scientific methods are helping to expand the alternative protein offerings in the mainstream market.

 

Passing taste tests with lab innovation

As the market for alternative proteins expands, rigorous testing becomes crucial. Ensuring the safety, composition, health benefits, and sustainability of these products is essential for maintaining consumer trust and industry growth. For many consumers, concerns about contaminants like veterinary drugs and hormones in meat products make alternative proteins a preferred choice, perceived as a healthier option. However, with rising demand and sometimes limited supply, food fraud becomes a significant challenge. Fraudsters may substitute expensive plant-based proteins with allergens like wheat or soya, or engage in other deceptive practices such as mislabelling and counterfeiting.

To address these challenges and meet consumer expectations in terms of the sensory experience, food developers are turning to advanced analytical tools. These tools are essential for overcoming the biggest hurdles to mainstream acceptance of alternative proteins: taste and texture.

By using sensitive instruments to analyse and optimise the flavour, aroma, and nutritional profiles of these products, food scientists can ensure they meet the high standards expected by consumers.

The process begins with sample preparation to remove unwanted interferences such as fats, chlorophyll, and pigments, allowing researchers to accurately compare the alternative proteins to their animal-based counterparts. Tools like liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry systems are then used to analyse food on a molecular level. Liquid chromatography provides detailed characterisation of stable components such as amino acids, vitamins, and lipids, while gas chromatography examines volatile compounds to engineer desired smells and tastes.

In addition to instrumental analysis, human taste testers play a crucial role in evaluating the palatability of food. Advanced instrumentation can complement this by objectively identifying the five basic tastes – sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami – in alternative proteins. This combined approach ensures a comprehensive assessment of flavour and texture, critical for consumer acceptance.

Download our Application Compendium for tips and tricks on Alternative Protein Testing >

Ensuring a quality composition of alternative proteins

Agilent’s workflow solutions exemplify the robust testing needed in the alternative protein industry. These solutions validate the authenticity, nutritional information, and safety of alternative protein products. For instance, Agilent’s LC-Q-TOF-MS/MS technology has been used to investigate non-meat proteins and peptide markers in ready-to-cook beef burgers, while GC/MS-based metabolomics approaches differentiate the chemical profiles of plant-based meat alternatives from grass-fed ground beef.

Watch our webinar on Metabolomics Profiling of Meat and Plant-based Meats >

 

Agilent 5977 GC/MSD

 

Elemental analysis is another critical aspect of ensuring the quality of alternative proteins. During the production process, there is potential for elemental metals to contaminate the final products. Agilent’s atomic spectroscopy instruments, such as the 7850 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), enable the identification and quantification of these metal elements, ensuring product safety.

Agilent 7850 ICP-MS

 

The future of food relies heavily on advancing research into alternative proteins. Technologies such as ICP-MS, triple quadrupole (QQQ) liquid or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/GC/MS), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) are recommended for robust testing purposes. These tools not only support the development of safer, healthier, and more sustainable food options but also influence the global food supply chain.

 

Chemetrix has the expert knowledge and innovative solutions required by the food industry to advance the safety and innovative product development of alternative proteins. As the food and agriculture industry faces ever-increasing demands for more sensitive, productive analytical solutions, Chemetrix leads the industry with products and services to help you deliver what your customers demand. Our instruments, systems, and supplies are used throughout the food production chain, including incoming inspection, new product development, quality control and assurance, and packaging. Contact us to find out how our team can assist you.

 

Best of Imaging Applications

Cell culture lies at the heart of many biological studies, serving as a foundational technique for a myriad of applications, from basic research to drug discovery. Register for this exciting webinar that will explore the newest features and instrument capabilities supporting kinetic live-cell imaging, from real-time analysis of rapid GPCR signalling pathways to long-term treatment-induced effects on cell proliferation and viability.

 

Speaker

Joe Clayton, PhD
Scientific Program Manager,
Agilent Cell Analysis

 

Register now >