The bottleneck for faster food safety testing in the lab is the sample preparation step known as enrichment. During enrichment, the food sample is mixed with bacterial nutrients and incubated for at least 22 hours to allow the amount of bacteria to increase to detectable levels. Rapid detection using molecular methods such as qPCR adds 1-2 hours of testing time, bringing the total time to results to 24 hours.

Faster results, no shortcuts. Pathotrak’s 5.5 hour solution replaces the traditional 22 hour enrichment and integrates into the detection system of your choice. Pathotrak’s Next Generation Enrichment meets and exceeds the pathogen sensitivity and exclusivity of traditional enrichment according to the requirements by FDA and USDA regulations.

Our Next Generation Enrichment consists of a short sample incubation followed by microbial separation and concentration. These steps are based on Pathotrak’s three patent-pending breakthroughs in microfiltration & elutriation, mechanical engineering, and chemistry & nano-filtration technology.

Pathotrak’s solution replaces enrichment seamlessly, it is compatible with your PCR system, without altering the workflow in the lab.

Instead of enriching the sample in a traditional enrichment bag, you do it in Pathotrak’s disposable Next-Gen bags. After 5.5 hours of incubation simply put the bag in Pathotrak’s instrument, and after 10 min you will recover 1.5 ml of liquid with the bacteria. Centrifuge the sample down, discard the supernatant, and introduce the pellet directly (no need for DNA extraction) into the PCR vial preloaded with the Mastermix and probes. The total time from sample to results is 6 hours. Easy.

The success of our vision will create a paradigm shift in food safety, saving billions of dollars in recalls and reducing the holding costs of food production. Moreover, getting product to retailer’s shelves a day earlier can reduce up to 50% food waste, resulting in potential annual savings of trillions of gallons of water and yearly reductions of billions of pounds of methane and greenhouse gases.