Sampling/Sample Prep

Study Shows Poor Recovery of Listeria Using Cotton Swabs for Environmental Monitoring

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:00 -0400

Sponges far outperformed cotton swabs in laboratory experiments and real-world sampling in an RTE food production facility. The findings align with existing recommendations supporting the use of sponge-based sampling with neutralizers for environmental monitoring.

How Proactive Listeria Testing Helps Prevent Six- and Seven-Figure Recalls

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Proactive Listeria testing can save millions in recall costs. Learn how validated PCR diagnostics, rapid environmental monitoring, and data-driven insights help food brands prevent contamination, ensure compliance, and protect consumer trust.

Study Finds Low Campylobacter Prevalence on Retail Chicken Meat, But Suggests Surveillance Gaps Exist

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 14:58:24 -0400

New research has demonstrated a low overall prevalence of Campylobacter on retail chicken meat; however, recovered C. jejuni strains did not match known poultry-associated genotypes, suggesting the need for sensitive detection methods and expanded genomic surveillance.

USDA-FSIS Publishes Science Behind New Campylobacter Enrichment Method

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 14:01:05 -0400

USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) laboratories now use an improved enrichment method for Campylobacter in poultry meat samples, which reduced enrichment incubation time by half, and shaved a day off of reporting times for results.

Bill That Would Give FDA Authority to Conduct Sampling on Factory Farms Reintroduced to Congress

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 15:04:08 -0500

Reintroduced to U.S. Congress on February 3, the Expanded Food Safety Investigation Act seeks to grant FDA the authority to collect microbial samples from concentrated animal feeding operations, also referred to as “factory farms,” during foodborne illness outbreak investigations.

USDA-FSIS Publishes Sampling Plan for FY 2025

hendersonb@bnpmedia.com (Bailee Henderson) — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:13:31 -0500

USDA-FSIS has published its Annual Sampling Plan for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, outlining the agency’s strategy for directing sampling resources in the coming year.

Former FDA Deputy Commissioner Frank Yiannas Joins Pathotrak Board of Directors

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 15:52:16 -0400

Pathotrak has appointed Frank Yiannas, former Deputy Commissioner of Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to its Board of Directors.

Hygiena Launches SureTrend Sampling Plan Module to Enhance Sampling Management

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 12:52:26 -0400

Designed to address key challenges faced by food safety professionals, the new Sampling Plan Module for Hygiena’s SureTrend platform offers a streamlined, efficient approach to sampling management.

New TruStream™ Drum Port Extracts Liquid Samples While Eliminating Airborne Contamination

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:26:44 -0400

QualiTru Sampling Systems® has launched the new TruStream™ Drum Port, engineered for the quick and safe extraction of liquid samples without exposing the product to airborne contaminants.

Current Campylobacter Testing Methods Inadequate for Foodborne Illness Attribution, Say Researchers

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 08:00:00 -0400

A recent study has demonstrated that current sampling and testing methods for Campylobacter may overlook epidemiologically-important strains. The researchers suggest using optimized culture methods and analyzing multiple isolates per sample.

New Direct Temperature-Controlled Chilling/Heating Dry Bath for Samples in Food Safety Labs

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:58:54 -0400

Torrey Pines Scientific has unveiled its EchoTherm™ Model IC50—a Peltier-driven, chilling/heating dry bath with exact sample temperature control.

FDA Publishes Guidance to Support Seafood Industry in Trying to Get Products Removed From DWPE

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 10:07:02 -0500

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a draft guidance for industry on collecting samples for testing seafood products subject to Detention Without Physical Examination (DWPE).

ColloidTek Collo Analyzer Offers Real-Time Liquid Process Quality Monitoring

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 11:30:43 -0500

ColloidTek’s Collo Analyzer is a new method for real-time liquid process quality monitoring. Based on EMF sensors and machine learning, the technology detects various contaminants and identifies potential risks in liquid processing with a single real-time measurement and instant, inline analysis.

How To Develop a Sampling Plan

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 00:00:00 -0500

Sampling is part of a process that has two functions. It can be used to sample a process during operations or to sample the output of a process, such as a product lot. During sampling, the measurand (the object being measured) must be properly selected, properly transported to a location where the object or objects will be analyzed, and the results must be reported to the appropriate individuals. This article covers the systematic development of a sampling plan.

UK Develops Protocol for Collection of Honey Reference Samples for Better Authenticity Databases

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 13:50:05 -0400

A protocol for the collection of honey reference samples for the creation of authenticity databases has been developed by the UK Government. Honey is one of the food commodities most subject to food fraud.

USDA-FSIS Year-Long Survey of Dioxins in Cattle, Swine, Catfish to Begin in November

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 16:21:26 -0400

On November 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) will begin a one-year sampling program of domestic beef, pork, and Siluriformes fish (commonly referred to as catfish) to determine levels of dioxins and dioxin-like compounds.

USDA-FSIS Continues Raw Pork Products Sampling Program With Changes

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 14:03:20 -0400

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has released a notice informing agency inspection program personnel about the continuation of and changes to the Raw Pork Products Sampling Program.

New Guidance Document for Dairy Industry on Product Sampling for Monitoring Production

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 12:11:24 -0400

The International Dairy Federation (IDF) recently published a new document to help the dairy industry conduct in-process product sampling that produces accurate and actionable microbiological data.

Are ‘Standard’ Methods to Detect Non-Cultivable Pathogens in Food and the Environment Fit For Purpose?

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 00:00:00 -0400

Non-cultivable foodborne pathogens, such as enteric viruses and protozoan parasites like Cyclospora, present unique challenges in our food system due to significant limitations in sampling and detection. This article covers the methodological drawbacks of current methods related to interpretation of results and public health risk, while offering alternative food safety management principles to address the prevalence of these pathogens in food.

USDA-FSIS Lists FY 2024 Sampling Program Priorities, Changes

Tue, 03 Oct 2023 09:30:35 -0400

After reviewing its sampling and testing programs, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will implement changes to its sampling programs for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. The agency also explained its sampling and testing priorities.

USDA Begins Sampling for Drug Residues in Cattle Claimed to be “Raised Without Antibiotics”

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 11:24:24 -0400

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched a new exploratory sampling program for antibiotic residues in cattle that are claimed to be raised without antibiotics.

Study Suggests Stratification and Increased, Smaller Samples can Improve Ability to Detect Cronobacter in Powdered Infant Formula

hendersonb@bnpmedia.com (Bailee Henderson) — Thu, 20 Jul 2023 09:00:00 -0400

A recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign concluded that, when sampling powdered infant formula for Cronobacter contamination, sampling with stratification may be more powerful than random sampling, and that taking more samples, even if smaller, increases the ability to detect contamination.

USDA-FSIS Updates Cell-Cultured Sampling Program Guidelines

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:30:08 -0400

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has updated its sampling program for cell-cultured meat and poultry products, providing new instructions to inspection personnel and enforcement officers.

USDA: "No Objection Letter" Not Required Cloth Sampling Procedure for STEC Testing

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 16:37:38 -0400

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) has notified constituents that establishments wishing to adopt the cloth sampling method (i.e., manual sampling device or continuous sampling device) for Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) testing of raw beef products no longer require a “No Objection Letter” (NOL) from FSIS.

GENE-UP ENVIROPRO Simultaneously Detects Salmonella, Listeria

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 12:21:26 -0500

bioMérieux’s new GENE-UP® ENVIROPRO™ detects both Salmonella and Listeria from environmental swabbing, including PCR confirmation.

Should Nuts and Low-Moisture Foods Consider a New Sampling Approach?

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 09:00:00 -0500

A pervasive trend exists to take larger and more frequent samples to address microbial contamination. This trend has touched almonds and is expected to hit other nut products, which can be considered for aggregated sampling as a solution.

Adjustable Tanker Port With Security Lid for Sampling in Dairy, Liquid Food Trucks

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 14:08:54 -0500

QualiTru Sampling Systems has introduced the first of three new products planned for 2023—the new TruStream7 Adjustable Tanker Port with Security Lid, specifically designed for sampling in dairy and other liquid food tanker trucks.

Simulation of Sampling Strategies for Food Safety: A New Tool for Improved Sampling Performance

Sun, 11 Dec 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Food safety sampling and testing strategies must seek ways to adapt food safety plans that reflect the reality of contamination to improve hazard detection and ultimately help ensure that food is safe for consumers. One solution is to maximize the power of sampling plans to detect target hazards present at explicitly defined risk levels—prevalence, level, and/or distribution. This would allow food safety professionals to better manage risk in their specific system.

USDA-FSIS to Host Virtual Open House on Laboratory Activities

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 13:58:01 -0400

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA’s FSIS) will host a virtual open house featuring live demonstrations and presentations on Salmonella sampling and quantification, whole genome sequencing, agency technology, and the National Residue Program.

Agilent, METTLER TOLEDO Solution Reduces Sample Preparation Errors

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 10:56:56 -0400

Agilent and METTLER TOLEDO have announced an integrated solution that features the automatic, seamless transfer of weighing results and associated metadata from METTLER TOLEDO LabX™ Balance software to Agilent OpenLab software.