VATIS UPDATE Article

According to a market research report by Reportlinker, France, global demand for commercially sterile beverages is growing more than 9 per cent annually. Taking this into consideration, 3M, the United States, have announced the launch of their Microbial Luminescence Systems UHT Beverage Screen Kit. This new rapid test expands the application of the Microbial Luminescence System (MLS) from UHT dairy products to a wide variety of UHT and ESL beverages such as fruit juices, caffeinated drinks, coconut waters, smoothies, dairy, dairy substitutes, and dairy/juice mixtures.

The system provides a rapid method for quality release testing, reducing the time-to-result by two to three days or more, compared to traditional methods like agar plates and pH measurement. Using bioluminescence technology, the Microbial Luminescence System detects ATP (adenosine triphosphate), an energy molecule universally present in all living organisms, no matter how small. This technology allows the 3M MLS to have faster time-to-result than traditional pH or agar tests, and more reliably detect a broad range of microorganisms than traditional methods.