TEMPO® EB, First Automated Test for Enterobacteriaceae Enumeration and Confirmation

bioMérieux launches TEMPO® EB, the first automated test for Enterobacteriaceae enumeration in food products in 24 hours including confirmation.

TEMPO EB innovation
TEMPO EB is a new automated test associating an innovative card with a selective medium, to ensure rapid enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae. TEMPO EB delivers an Enterobacteriaceae count as early as 22 hours, confirmation included, compared to 72 hours for the reference method EN-ISO 21528-2 which requires a two-step confirmation. This easy-to-use method offers significant time savings especially when large numbers of positive samples are processed, and allows faster reporting of results.

"TEMPO EB gives results equivalent to the ISO method and allows us to gain time throughout all the analysis stages. We will use TEMPO EB for routine testing in order to expand our customer portfolio without increasing our staff" comments Jean-Yves François, Technical Manager of Quality Partner, after having successfully evaluated TEMPO EB.

"TEMPO EB is based on the well proven and accepted MPN (Most Probable Number) method which facilitates its integration in both industrial and official laboratories", adds Alexandre Mérieux, Corporate Vice President of bioMérieux, Industrial Microbiology.

With TEMPO EB, bioMérieux reinforces the current TEMPO menu which already contains TEMPO TVC (Total Viable Count), TEMPO EC (Escherichia coli) and TEMPO TC (Total coliforms), providing an enlarged menu for wider market fit. TEMPO EB is currently undergoing validation by AFNOR according to the ISO 16140 standard.

About Enterobacteriaceae and regulations
Increasing emphasis on a total quality approach in food production, HACCP plans and Risk Assessment procedures enhance the role that quality indicators such as Total Viable Count, Coliforms, Escherichia coli and Enterobacteriaceae have in monitoring the hygienic and commercial quality of food.

Enterobacteriaceae enumeration is the key hygiene parameter in the latest European regulation on microbiological criteria for food, EC 2073/2005. The Enterobacteriaceae family includes important food spoilage agents and certain intestinal pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Shigella spp…