ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--3M Food Safety announced today that 3M™ Petrifilm™ Aqua Coliform Count Plates have received Performance Tested Method (PTM) validation (Certification Number 091101) from the AOAC Research Institute. 3M recently introduced this technology for enhancing productivity, consistency and ease-of-use in microbial testing of bottled water.

Validation studies compared 3M Petrifilm Aqua Coliform Count Plates to reference method 9222 B2a of the American Public Health Association (APHA) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. The AOAC PTM certified 3M Petrifilm Aqua Coliform Count Plates to be equivalent to or better than the reference method for the enumeration of Coliforms, a contaminant that jeopardizes water and beverage bottling industry products.

The testing, completed by an independent laboratory as part of the AOAC Research Institute’s validation process, follows and confirms an earlier third-party test commissioned by 3M Food Safety last year that compared to ISO 9308-1, the U.S. FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) and the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water & Wastewater. The tests also concluded that the 3M Petrifilm Aqua Coliform Count Plates performed equivalent to or better than the reference methods.

3M’s new test method provides an alternative to more expensive and time-consuming water testing methods such as those that involve media pads, disposable filter funnels, and agar petri dishes. Industry analysis of 3M Petrifilm Plates in 292 food-processing plants demonstrated an 80 percent increase in technician productivity (tests per hour) by switching from traditional agar to the sample-ready, compact and shelf-stable 3M Petrifilm plates. That efficiency saves companies an average of 3.7 hours of technician time each day, freeing them to concentrate more on sampling, production monitoring and HACCP programming.

“The convenience, ease-of-use and storage-saving attributes of 3M Petrifilm Aqua Plates are significant. Receiving certification from an organization as highly respected as the AOAC Research Institute is extremely helpful in conveying our product’s strong and consistent performance,” said Bob Jechorek, regulatory affairs specialist with 3M Food Safety. “We’re excited about this milestone, as it’s an important outgrowth of our larger commitment to provide high quality products, service, and innovation to worldwide food and beverage supply chains.”

AOAC RI, based in Gaithersburg, MD, is a subsidiary of AOAC International, a globally recognized, independent, not-for-profit association founded in 1884. AOAC serves communities of the analytical sciences by providing the tools and processes necessary to develop voluntary consensus standards or technical standards through stakeholder consensus and working groups in which the fit-for-purpose and method performance criteria are established and fully documented. AOAC provides a science-based solution and its Official Methods of Analysis gives defensibility, credibility, and confidence in decision-making. AOAC Official Methods are accepted and recognized worldwide.

3M Food Safety is the leader of innovative solutions that help the food and beverage industry optimize the quality and safety of their products to enable consumer protection. At every step, 3M Food Safety provides solutions that help mitigate risk, improve operational efficiencies and impact the bottom line. 3M Petrifilm Aqua Plates are available for worldwide purchase and testing. Individuals and their organizations can learn more by visiting www.3M.com/foodsafety or contacting a customer care representative at 1-800-328-1671.

About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Its culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $27 billion in sales, 3M employs about 80,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.

3MMary Kokkinen, 651-733-8806mckokkinen@mmm.comorKohnstamm CommunicationsAaron Berstler, 651-789-1264aaron@kohnstamm.com