Seward Ltd., manufacturer of the world leading range of original Stomacher® laboratory paddle blenders and accessories used in sample preparation for microbiological analysis, has launched a new range of instantly soluble, sterile media products. Insterprep® granulated media bags and sachets have been introduced to speed up and simplify sample preparation for microbiological analysis of food samples, with preparation times as low as one minute or less.

Developed by two of the most trusted names in food microbiology - Seward and HiMedia Laboratories - the highly respected manufacturer of laboratory culture media – the Insterprep (Instant Sterile Preparation) range has been created to help laboratories cut waste, increase capacity and respond to varying workflow requirements. Manufactured to ISO standards, Insterprep has been tested and proven independently by the world renowned Leatherhead Food Research Agency.

Insterprep’s pre-weighed and sterile granulated media is instantly soluble, enabling extremely fast preparation times. The Insterprep media...

Also included in Seward’s new media range, Insterprep sachets contain instantly soluble sterile media granules which are ready-to-use by adding directly to the user’s own Stomacher bags. The sachets can be selected depending on the quantity and type of media required for a particular protocol.

“From discussions with our customers we appreciated their need to cut waste and cost in media preparation and to increase productivity in food microbiological analysis through better control of lab resources,” said Dan Crothers, Managing Director, Seward Ltd. “By working closely with media experts HiMedia Laboratories we have developed our new Insterprep media range to ensure fast and accurate sample preparation. Not only does it minimise waste by having just the right amount of sterile media required for each sample, but it also eliminates contamination risk, weighing errors and laboratory bottlenecks often caused by batch media preparation.”

Current media varieties available in the Insterprep range include Buffered Peptone Water, Max Recovery Diluent and Fraser Broth. All are frequently used in the sample preparation of food for microbiological analysis for organisms such as: Listeria, Campylobacter, Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 etc. As they are supplied in instantly soluble granular format, unlike powdered media, Insterprep granules have low odour and powder residue. Furthermore, they are easy to ship and store as opposed to prepared liquid media.

About Seward Limited - www.seward.co.uk Seward manufactures the world leading range of Stomacher® paddle blenders and Stomacher® accessories used in sample preparation for microbiological analyses. The company has been manufacturing and developing the world renown and patented Stomacher® Lab Blender for over 40 years. The original and still regarded as the best, over 8 million food samples a day are prepared on Stomacher® 400 paddle blender units around the world.

In addition to sample preparation for food safety analyses, within the bioscience market the new developments of the Stomacher® 80 and micro 80 are proving invaluable for safe and efficient sample processing. The Stomacher® 3500 has established itself as the instrument of choice for preparing samples for the new pathogen test protocols requiring jumbo size samples.

The company is based in Worthing, West Sussex, UK with subsidiaries in the USA and Singapore. All Seward machine products are manufactured within the UK and 1 of its 3 worldwide Stomacher® bag manufacturing operations is also UK-based. This ensures control of quality and price to deliver excellent value to global trading partners and laboratory customers.

Seward Limited continues to develop the product range, now with 3 patents to its credit. Stomacher® is the most highly referenced brand name in food safety and life science sample preparation in scientific publications. The company also assists customers with method development through reference searches and sample evaluations within its own development laboratory.

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