3M Food Safety introduces the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced, a new automation technology that gives food safety professionals new options to rapidly and accurately image, count and document microbiological colonies on 3M Petrifilm Plates indicator tests. By rapidly automating the colony-counting step of 3M Petrifilm Plates, the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced saves food safety labs time and increases productivity.

The new 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced is a small, peripheral device containing a five-megapixel camera and versatile bar code reader. The device utilizes fixed artificial intelligence networks to enumerate 3M Petrifilm Plates. 3M Petrifilm Plates are inserted into the device, with imaging and information automatically displaying on a USB-connected computer in less than six seconds, processing up to 900 plates per hour. The device can enumerate 10 3M Petrifilm Plates and the Staph Express Disk and includes software that allows technicians to edit results and add other relevant sample information. A study conducted found up to 94% reduced time to enumerate 3M Petrifilm Plates when using the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced.  

"Food safety is always a top concern globally, but challenges related to COVID-19 have put additional pressure on organizations to maximize resources," says Elliott Zell, 3M Food Safety global new product marketing manager. "3M is in a unique position to help the food-and-beverage industry maximize the efficiency of the critical tests it manages each day, and we have invested in advanced hardware and software to help labs reduce tedious tasks in favor of strategic activities. The 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced — the latest innovation in our iconic 3M Petrifilm solution — uses automation to help increase throughput in testing labs."

This introduction of the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced is 3M Food Safety's second automation offering within the last two years for food-and-beverage manufacturers looking to streamline their operations and modernize their laboratories. In 2019, 3M announced it had partnered with Hamilton Company to offer food testing laboratories interoperability between the Hamilton foodInspect NIMBUS automated multichannel pipetting technology and the award-winning 3M Molecular Detection System.

3M Food Safety is a leader of innovative solutions that help organizations in the food-and-beverage industries to optimize the quality and safety of their products, enabling consumer protection and improving bottom lines. Individuals interested in ordering or learning more about 3M's expanding portfolio of automation-enabled tests and technologies should visit 3M.com/PetrifilmProductivity.