Modern Health Concerns and Testing Procedures for Sulfates

The news reports a lot sulfates. And if you read the back of your favorite cosmetics or cleaning bottles, you may become quite confused or conflicted when you see the word in the ingredients. There are many potentially dangerous substances, both manmade and natural, that we come into contact with on a daily basis… including sulfates. But just what are sulfates, where are they found, and what types of problems can they really cause?

Testing and Tattoos: What May Be Lurking in That Ink

Anything that is consumed or applied to our bodies can contain contaminants. In most cases, the human body does a miraculous job at resisting and fighting the pathogens. But sometimes, the contaminants can lead to health complications, disease, even death. Tattoo ink has recently come before the firing line as a contaminant carrier worthy of serious attention. But what exactly does that mean for ink enthusiasts, and can testing be performed to potentially correct the concerns?

Salmonella at the Source: What You Need to Know About Your Food

Most food recalls deal directly with simple mistakes: accidental ingredient omission on labels, or marking an item as gluten-free when it’s actually a gluten source. While these mistakes can lead to problems, primarily related to allergic reactions, news reports make it seem like every recall is an all out attack on the American public. While pathogens do play a part in recalls, for the most part they only affect those people who have low immunity to the bacteria, such as children, senior citizens, pregnant women, and individuals who have immune issues due to disease. 

What Superbugs Are Lurking in Your Body?

Estimates from the World Health Organizations suggest that the usage of antibiotics over the past 70 years has added about 20 years to the average human’s lifespan. When you take an antibiotic, you expect it to do its job and attack the pathogen that’s making you ill – but that’s not always the case.

Bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other live organisms evolve over the course of time and become immune to human medications. Part of the problem is that doctors frequently over-prescribe antibiotics due to improper information received from patients or simply due to human error. As human reliance on medication increases, so does microbial resistance. Why?

Decoding DNA: Modern Practices for Winning the War on Bacteria

You’ve probably heard of genetic mapping. It’s become a medical research staple over the past few decades to help professionals decode and comprehend the growth potential and intent of modern diseases. But new breakthroughs are leading top microbiologists toward mapping the DNA of bacteria responsible for food poisoning outbreaks as well.

Salmonella, E.coli, campylobacter and listeria are the top food poisoning bacteria concerns for pregnant women. But microbiologists are currently focusing on listeria, the third top prenatal danger, since it’s found practically everywhere on the planet. Technical advances have already led to containing an outbreak responsible for one death and seven severe illnesses across the U.S.

Discovering the Differences Between Probiotics and Live Cultures

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that can potentially aid in specific health concerns. But aiding and curing are completely different concepts. Advertising easily confuses consumers with fancy labels and the power of suggestion. Let’s face it, food manufacturers get away with more than their share of misconceptions. Advertisements love to hint that if you just buy a certain product, all of your health issues will magically disappear. But is that true? Read on for some of the more interesting Probiotic myths.

Salmonella Outbreak Victims Unite: $6.8 Million Lawsuit Makes History

On June 2, 2014 a court decision shocked the nation as one of the largest egg manufacturers in the U.S. was charged with almost $7 million in fines for their responsibility in a nationwide salmonella breakout in 2010. The owner and chief operating officer of Quality Egg LLC, 79 year old Austin DeCoster and his son, 50-year-old Peter DeCoster, are charged with knowingly selling unapproved food to commercial businesses. The act earned them each a misdemeanor. Both DeCosters were charged $100,000 fines, each, and may be convicted for up to a year in prison.

The Similarities and Differences in Modern Medications

In today’s society, medications are used and required for everything from the discomfort of a mosquito bite to treat the symptoms and unbearable pain associated with chronic disease. All forms of medication undergo some form of testing, but it may be surprising to know what that entails.

Safety First: Combating Salmonella One Test at a Time

Food contaminants are wide spread concerns which affect the health and safety of millions of Americans annually. Whether food is mishandled at the manufacturing level or unclean conditions between the factory and home are involved, the outcome can be minor to severe, depending on the actual cause of the contamination.

Vaccines and Microbiological Testing: Modern Medical Miracles

Vaccines are injected cocktails of live or dead pathogens administered into the bloodstream in order in improve the immune system and guard against harmful or fatal diseases. But they can include some offsetting, and in some cases even serious, side effects. There’s a lot of controversy associated with vaccines today. But current vaccine testing procedures help offset many of the past issues associated with the absorption of viral cultures.

Listeria Takes Over the World

Improper food and substance handling from factories to store shelve have led to mass panic and true outbreaks in bacterial-based contamination of food sources. Each year it seems as though there’s a new super pathogen. Without the aid of upfront microbiology quality assurance, several pathogens and bacterial strains developed resistance to simple antibacterial and pharmaceutical treated strategies. However, if you've recently watched news or read a paper, you've likely heard another name: listeria.

Microbial Food Trends

Every year seems to end with its own share of food-related scares and scandals. And 2013 made its own mark on both ends. With the recent and ongoing bacteria-laced scares, as well as the European-based horse meat scandal, Americans have spoken out and expressed their unwillingness to take anymore. It’s about time. As such, food trends for 2014 focus more on microbial testing and elimination of specific pathogen-based contaminants.

Killer Cosmetics: When Rapid Microbiological Testing Can’t Be Skipped

There’s a famous quote that states if women were happier as a whole with their appearance, the cosmetic industry would be in trouble. And while there’s substance to that, the truth is that if all cosmetic manufacturers utilized microbiological quality control guidelines, there would also be less illness and premature death in the world.

Bacteria-Laced Beauty – Do All Fillers Undergo Rapid Microbiological Testing?

Since 1981, cosmetic derma filler applications have taken over as the inexpensive version to going under the knife. Almost replacing facelifts as a whole, those who simply want to hide wrinkles and avoid aging gracefully opt for toxic injections instead. But not only can those cause all sorts of nasty side effects on their own, the filling substances are also breeding grounds for bacteria. Without proper microbiological quality assurance applied, you could lose a lot more than a few wrinkles.

Another Salmonella Outbreak Courtesy of Foster Farms

If you've watched or read the news lately, you’re likely familiar with the name Foster Farms. The California-based business is famed for its farm-raised poultry… and salmonella scares, of course. Since March, 2013, the company has been blast beaten with continual health-related infestations (obviously they’re unfamiliar with microbiological testing). But it seemed as though the salmonella situation was contained… until it wasn’t.

Easy Microbial Mold and Yeast Removal

If you’ve ever seen dairy or flour-based food sitting on a counter too long, you’ve likely noticed changes that occur within the edible source. Mold and yeast are well known toxins that change and destroy the original quality of consumables. There are some molds that cause human illness, but most are relatively harmless to healthy people. Both yeast and mold can deteriorate any food substance they infiltrate, and even cause cramping until digestion has occurred.

The Need for Microbiological Testing in Medical Marijuana

In the 1960s, the U.S government blocked all research testing of cannibis products, stating it was not medicinally beneficial, even though many chronically ill patients, and their doctors alike, disagreed. While in 2001, the government rejected appeals for retesting while insisting they couldn’t sign off on medical guarantees due to the fact that marijuana has never been properly tested. State laws have been amended over the past decade or so to allow for new testing procedures in the event of medically necessary marijuana prescriptions.

Keep Fido Safe: Microbiological Testing for Pet Food

Ask any animal lover and they’ll tell you their pets are family. The 170 million pampered dogs and cats in the U.S alone that add to the annual $22 million pet food industry; which is expected to double in earnings within the next few years. People simply want to give their pets the very best lives possible, from food to fashion. The unexpected loss of a beloved pet due to bacteria-laced food is an unnecessary emotional hit to any family; which is why microbiological testing is so important to the health and happiness of your furry family members.

5 Changes in Microbiological Testing for the Food Industry

The globalization of the food supply chain and the growing concern over food safety expressed by the public has placed heavy demands and expectations on the food microbiology diagnostics sector. Players in the field describe this as a challenging and critical time which presents a mixed bag of fortunes. As it is with any market dynamics, those who are well informed stand to reap the most.

Strategic Consulting, Inc. (SCI) has published two new data reports that reveal five major trends in the food testing domain that will shape 2014.

The Correlation between Gut Health and Mental Health

Are you familiar with the long-standing idea of “gut feelings?” More than the ideas of feelings through your gut, recent studies show that the overall health of your gut may influence your mind. Those studies indicate that the presence of healthy bacteria in your gut may play a crucial part in the chemistry of the brain and total mental health.  

Quality Assurance: Creating Safe Manufacturing Environments

Technological advancements in microbiology environmental monitoring procedures have made them a popular choice in food and beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The traditional methods had limited detection abilities compared to the new technologies.

Eat Safely: 10 Ways to Know If Food Has Spoiled

Although the five human senses cannot always detect food spoilage, there are a few easy ways to know whether or not food is still consumable. If you have ever doubted the quality of food, whether inside your fridge or on the store shelf, you need to know how to tell if food has spoiled. Here are the top 10 ways to know whether or not food has gone bad:

Cooking Chicken? Safeguard Against Salmonella

A recent outbreak of salmonella linked to Foster Farms chicken, discovered in October, has resulted in more than 300 people becoming ill across the country. This alarming incident has spurred calls for people to be extra careful when handling and preparing the raw chicken they purchase in order to minimize the risk of infection.

The Difference Between Healthy Candida and Candida Overgrowth

When most people hear the word Candida, they think of itching, headaches, depression and overall ill health. While Candida does deserve some of the bad reputation it gets, lately some of the reports about Candida are completely baseless and totally false. It has caused the public to believe a lot of incorrect information and to take precautions that are completely unnecessary. People have gone on "yeast free diets" to detoxify their bodies of candida.

Do Antibacterial Soaps Do More Harm Than Good?

Many hand soaps, body soaps, dishwashing liquids, kitchen cleaners, and other soaps claim to be antibacterial, i.e. capable of killing the bacteria on the surfaces they touch. However, these claims may be called into question if a new rule proposed by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is officially implemented.

Is Labeling of GMOs Accurate?

With each passing year, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are gaining prominence, so it is important to understand exactly what they are and some of the related issues. For a plant to be considered GMO, some sort of genetic engineering has to have gone into its husbandry; the most common crops linked to this label are canola, corn, cotton and soybeans. The most frequent modification produces a resistance to the toxic effects of herbicide. The purpose of this is to help farmers produce more crops with less work. In 2006, 102 million hectares included genetically modified crops worldwide, and the number has only grown since. The United States has recently approached 60 million hectares.

The Role of Rapid Microbiological Testing in the Cosmetics Industry

Rapid microbiological testing plays an important role in the cosmetics, toiletries, and personal care industries. Microorganisms can cause spoilage or unwanted chemical changes, and can potentially harm consumers using the product. Cosmetics testing assures that cosmetic, personal care, health and beauty products are free of harmful microorganisms and safe for consumer use. These rapid microbiology methods provide a simple and time-saving way to demonstrate product quality that take less time compared to traditional culture-based methods.

Suitability Testing's Role in Modern Rapid Microbiology Testing Systems

Among the most critical aspects of controlling the manufacturing process and providing microbiology quality assurance in the production process is maintaining the proper use and application of key testing procedures that were established during the research and development phase. Conventional methods used to monitor the performance of analytical procedures range from the use of control samples with known values for method validation, to the use of titration blanks, periodic calibration and instrument qualification. In addition, many test procedures can be monitored using system suitability tests.

The Crucial Role of Microbiology Testing in the Expanding Pharmaceutical Industry

Over the years, the U.S. has remained the world’s biggest market for pharmaceutical products and the global leader in biopharmaceutical research. In fact, the massive U.S. pharmaceutical industry accounts for about 80 percent of all research and development in biotechnology in the world. The United States National Institute of Health claims that there are approximately 140,000 clinical trials underway for pharmaceutical products awaiting FDA approval, which the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacture of America (PhRMA) claims to have an annual value of over $67 billion.  

10 Assays for Simplified, Rapid, Automated Microbiology Testing

Through rapid automated microbiology systems, various industries can increase throughput and plant efficiency in the quality assurance of their products, as per the new requirements of the FDA. Each system comprises instruments that can test multiple, individual assay vials; software for the rapid and real-time transfer of results; and disposable vials for use in required microbiological assays. 10 vials are described below: