AOAC Method of the Year for Confirmation and Identification in Food Microbiology Awarded to MALDI Biotyper® OMA

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - July 9, 2018: At the 2018 Annual Meeting of the International Association of Food Protection (www.foodprotection.org/), Bruker announces a standardized workflow for any microbial isolate confirmation and identification in food microbiology.

The world-leading, bench-top MALDI Biotyper enables fast microbial identification using protein fingerprinting with short times-to-result and minimum hands-on-time. The MALDI Biotyper is easy to use without any prior knowledge of mass spectrometry.  The workflow uses isolated colonies from selective and non-selective agar plates for pathogen and quality indicator testing, or for quality and hygiene controls. The MALDI Biotyper simplifies and shortens confirmation and identification steps, facilitating and harmonizing the workflow with only one system for bacteria, yeast and moulds. Each sample is measured in less than a minute.  The MALDI Biotyper software includes a user-friendly interface and offers data interpretation that is designed for food microbiology applications.

Two applications on the MALDI Biotyper were recently recognized and published as Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) of AOAC INTERNATIONAL for selected pathogens confirmation and identification of other bacteria from various agar plates, leading to two standardized methods. Together, AOAC 2017.09 and AOAC 2017.10 are considered important achievements and improvements in food testing, and will be awarded the 2018 AOAC Method of the Year by the Official Methods Board of AOAC INTERNATIONAL.

The MALDI Biotyper has also been validated by MicroVal for the confirmation of several foodborne pathogens. The MicroVal committee has members from Europe and North America, including experts from food safety authorities, food testing laboratories and method developers. Together with MicroVal and the Lloyd’s certification body, Bruker has been an early adopter of the new technical rules of ISO/DIS 16140-6 for validation of confirmation and typing methods.

DeAnn Benesh, President of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, stated: “The AOAC-OMA Program sets rigorous scientific standards for methods to ensure that they demonstrate the highest quality in analytical results, apply innovative technologies, have a broad applicability, serve a critical need and demonstrate a significant improvement.  The AOAC Official Methods Board has determined that based on their novel approach of confirming and identifying organisms, both new MALDI Biotyper Official Methods of Analysis^SM, AOAC 2017.09 and AOAC 2017.10, will receive the AOAC Method of the Year award.”

Dr. Daniele Sohier, Business Development Manager - Food Microbiology at Bruker, commented: “We are honoured to receive the AOAC Award for the Best Method of the Year 2017-18 in the food microbiology framework. The MALDI Biotyper shortens time-to-result in food microbiology and has broad species coverage. Implementation of the MALDI Biotyper has the potential to improve the analysis quality, shorten time-to-result and generate significant cost savings in food microbiology testing.”

Additionally, the MALDI Biotyper reference library for filamentous fungi has been updated to cover the most important taxa and species from food mycology, offering an advance for food fungal testing applications.

A dedicated workshop on using the MALDI Biotyper in combination with other technologies, a symposium on the use of high-throughput technologies in food microbiology routine testing, as well as three scientific posters showing the reliability and reproducibility of the MALDI Biotyper in studies will be displayed at this IAFP Annual meeting.

About the Bruker MALDI Biotyper (MBT) Platform

The MALDI Biotyper family of systems enables molecular identification of microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts and fungi.  Classification and identification of microorganisms is achieved reliably and quickly using proteomic fingerprinting by high-throughput MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.  The MALDI Biotyper uses a molecular approach based on specific proteomic fingerprints.  Many published studies have highlighted its greater accuracy and lower cost, as well as typically much faster time-to-result (TTR).

Applications include clinical routine microbial identification, environmental and pharmaceutical analysis, taxonomical research, food and consumer product safety and quality control, as well as marine microbiology.  In many laboratories the MALDI Biotyper has replaced classical biochemical testing for bacterial identification due to the accuracy, speed, extensive species coverage, ease of use and cost effectiveness of the system.  Traditional biochemical techniques detect different metabolic properties of microorganisms, can take many hours or even days for completion, and they often lack specificity.

The robust MALDI Biotyper requires minimal sample preparation and offers low consumables cost.  The products of the MALDI Biotyper family are available in a research-use-only (RUO) version that is AOAC OMA and MicroVal approved, as the U.S. FDA-cleared MALDI Biotyper CA System, or in an IVD-CE version according to EU directive EC/98/79.  The MALDI Biotyper also has medical device registrations in numerous other countries.  RUO versions of the MALDI Biotyper allow selected, high-value antimicrobial resistance tests.

About Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR)

Bruker is enabling scientists to make breakthrough discoveries and develop new applications that improve the quality of human life. Bruker’s high-performance scientific instruments and high-value analytical and diagnostic solutions enable scientists to explore life and materials at molecular, cellular and microscopic levels. In close cooperation with our customers, Bruker is enabling innovation, improved productivity and customer success in life science molecular research, in applied and pharma applications, in microscopy and nanoanalysis, and in industrial applications, as well as in cell biology, preclinical imaging, clinical phenomics and proteomics research and clinical microbiology. For more information, please visit: www.bruker.com.