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 HGMF Spreadfilter

HGMF SPREADFILTER for microbiological tests with membrane filters.

It would seem axiomatic that when you membrane filter a sample for microbiological analysis your filtration apparatus will be contaminated and you must either clean and resterilize it before reuse, or discard it. But it's not axiomatic...the contamination problem resides in the funnel...if you did not use a funnel there would be no carryover of contamination and no need for costly cleanup work! The SPREADFILTER exploits the ability of an HGMF's hydrophobic border to retain up to 10 mL of liquid inside the meniscus - so it eliminates the need for a funnel. Filtrant contacts only the HGMF - the SPREADFILTER itself does not get contaminated, therefore it does not need to be sterilized and you filter your next sample immediately. The SPREADFILTER's not recommended for sterility testing or work with dangerous pathogens, but for routine food micro one SPREADFILTER will replace dozens of recyclable HGMF filters or costly disposables.

To use - place an HGMF on the SPREADFILTER, pipet inoculum in its center and use the pipet to spread it along one border. Spin the SPREADFILTER a quarter turn - spread again - twice more to cover the whole HGMF. Open the valve to pull liquid through, plate the HGMF and do the next sample. At the end of the day flush through well with 70% ethanol.
Notes:
- Long experience shows that organisms picked up occasionally from the frit by the underside of the HGMF have negligible effect on growths or counts on the HGMF. However, the glass frit and silicone rubber frame can be removed and sterilized, if desired.
- SPREADFILTERS are used by the USDA, CFIA and research and food industry labs around the world, and are cited in numerous publications (see REFERENCES below).


Height 6 cm; diameter 12.5 cm; weight 900 g.
Cat. SF-1, price CAD$499.00 (shipping extra)   Email order or request more information....

REFERENCES
Grasso EM. et al. 2009. Rapid differentiation of Bacillus strains using hydrophobic grid membranes and attenuated total reflectance Infrared microspectroscopy. J Food Prot., 72: 1909-15.
Männig, A. et al. 2008. Differentiation of Salmonella enterica serovars and strains in cultures and food using infrared spectroscopic and microspectroscopic techniques combined with soft independent modeling of class analogy pattern recognition analysis. J Food Prot., 71: 2249-56.
Brichta-Harhay, DM.et al. 2008. Enumeration of Salmonella from poultry carcass rinses via direct plating methods. Lett Appl Microbiol.. 46: 186-91.
Brichta-Harhay, DM. et al. 2007. Enumeration of Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef, cattle carcass, hide and faecal samples using direct plating methods. J Appl Microbiol., 103: 1657-68.
Valdivieso-Garcia, A. et al. 2007. Novel Campylobacter isolation method using hydrophobic grid membrane filter and semisolid medium. J Food Prot., 70: 355-62.
Rabaste, C. et al. 2007. The effects of handling and group size on welfare of pigs in lairage and their influence on stomach weight, carcass microbial contamination and meat quality. Can J. Animal Sci., 87: 3-12.
Ferens, W.A., et al. 2006. Intestinal Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Bacteria Mitigate Bovine Leukemia Virus Infection in Experimentally Infected Sheep. Infect. Immun., 74: 2906-2916.
Canada Gazette, Vol 140, No. 10, 2006. Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (Appendix to Ministerial Condition No. 13965 - Protocol for the Detection of Fungus Fusarium Species Strain CK 46-8 in Wastewater). Peterkin, P.I., and A.N. Sharpe. 1997. Methods MFHPB-26 (Enumeration of Escherichia coli by the Hydrophobic Grid-Membrane Filter (HGMF) Method), and MFHPB-17 (Enumeration of coliforms) in: Vol 2. Compendium of Analytical Methods Polyscience Publications Inc, Laval, Québec.
Charlebois, R., et al. 1991. Surface contamination of beef carcasses by fecal coliforms. J. Food Prot., 54: 950-956.
Fliss, I., et al. 1991. Microbiological quality of different fresh meat species in Tunisian slaughterhouses and markets. J. Food Prot., 54: 773-777.
Szabo, R., et al. 1990. Increased sensitivity of the rapid hydrophobic grid membrane filter enzyme-labeled antibody procedure for Escherichia coli O157 detection in foods and bovine feces. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 56: 3546-3549.
Todd, E.C.D., et al. 1988. Rapid hydrophobic grid membrane filter-enzyme labeled antibody procedure for identification and enumeration of Escherichia coli O157 in foods. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 54: 2536-2540.
Sharpe, A.N., et al. 1986. Re-usable filtration apparatus needs no sterilizing. Food Microbiol., 3: 243-246.
Updated Jan 2011