Product testing is expensive and time consuming – right???????

We all know that food has to be tested for food safety and quality before it leaves the factory and that it can take days and is usually not cheap. Well, that is not the case any longer.

But it has been the way for a long time and is recognized both scientifically and legally.

A simple little 15 cent dipstick is about to change things in a big way.

The dipstick is made from the same material used with paper towels and separates out the DNA and RNA from living molecules. The extracted molecules are then tested for bacteria, viruses and other cells, including cancer.

It has been developed by researchers from the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of Queensland.

Researcher Professor Jimmy Botella said;“We have successfully used the dipsticks in remote plantations in Papua New Guinea to diagnose sick trees and have applied it to livestock, human samples, pathogens in food, and in detecting environmental risks such as E. coli-contaminated water,” he said.

Obviously a lot more testing needs to be done on this new method to ensure it is effective, repeatable and scientifically valid before it can be accepted as standard certified laboratory testing method.

However it offers an enormous opportunity to reduce product testing costs and time, which will have a massive impact on the food industry.