Thirty Years Young: 3M Celebrates Three Decades of Petrifilm Plate Innovations

3M Food Safety is marking the 30^th anniversary of the introduction of its revolutionary 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plates, the worldwide standard for fast, simple, easy-to-interpret indicator testing.

First introduced in 1984, the 3M Petrifilm Plate technology has long been the industry standard for efficient and reliable colony interpretation and enumeration for food and beverage processors. For three decades, food safety professionals around the world have put their trust in 3M Petrifilm Plates for microbial indicator tests that are fast, reliable and consistently accurate.

“The launch of 3M Petrifilm Plates was viewed as a major step forward for indicator testing technology,” said Kevin McGoldrick, director of sales, 3M Food Safety. “Our customers not only praise the accuracy and consistency of the method but also and equally important, the operational efficiencies that come with using Petrifilm Plates. Worldwide, the adoption of Petrifilm continues to grow which is the true testament of the product’s value and utility to the industry.”

With a plate for a wide variety of food and beverage organisms, an automated reader, 16 patents in its portfolio and continued expansion of the technology through new innovations, 3M’s flagship food safety technology is showing no sign of slowing down. All told, over 2 billion Petrifilm Plates have been produced since 1984. If placed end-to-end, these plates would stretch around the earth five times, or if stacked, would equal the height of about 2,857 Eiffel Towers.

Continued Commitment to Innovation
The 3M Petrifilm Plate portfolio has expanded significantly since its initial launch, with 14 microbial quantitative tests now available, the latest being the new 3M™ Petrifilm™ Rapid Yeast and Mold Count Plates for the detection of yeasts and molds in as little as 48 hours. In addition, 3M recently introduced the new 3M Petrifilm Salmonella Express System, which provides qualitative detection and biochemical confirmation of Salmonella.

“We’re not just celebrating 30 years of Petrifilm Plates – we’re celebrating 30 years of helping our customers improve lab efficiencies while also ensuring high product quality and safety standards,” said Mark Rehborg, global business team leader, 3M Food Safety. “We’re excited to be marking this important milestone, but we are also looking forward to the next 30 years of helping the industry do more.”

3M Food Safety will be showcasing the latest 3M Petrifilm Plate innovations at the International Association of Food Protection annual event in August, booth #501. For more information on the 3M Petrifilm Plates’ 30^th anniversary, visit http://www.3m.com/Petrifilm/30Years

3M Food Safety is a leader of innovative solutions that help the food and beverage industries 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. For more information, visit www.3M.com/FoodSafety or follow @3M_FoodSafety on Twitter.

About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our 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 $31 billion in sales, 3M employs 89,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.