Sample Preparation Reduce Plastic Waste in Food Microbiology Testing by up to 50 Percent

Specialist for sample preparation for microbiological analyses, Seward, has launched the first paddle blender bag that can also be autoclaved. By avoiding the need for double-bagging, trials have shown that the new bags can reduce the amount of plastic waste by 50 percent, as well as saving time and cost.

Worthing/UK — Seward developed a new autoclavable bag in response to a request by a global food giant customer, to produce a sterile blender bag that would help solve a number of problems it was facing in their food testing processes. Using innovative technology, Seward was able to develop a bag that was robust enough to withstand both the physical demands of the blending action and subsequent autoclaving.

An extensive evaluation at the company showed that Seward’s new autoclavable Stomacher bag reduced processing times and labour costs by eliminating the need to double bag samples before autoclaving. In addition, this meant a significant reduction in the amount of single-use plastic used during the process.

The company has estimated that using the new Stomacher bag in only one site will save almost $ 31k annually, due to reduced need for materials and a saving of over two hrs a day in processing time, and also use 1,100 Kg less plastic each year.

“Using single-use plastic is not only detrimental to the environment, it is costly, and as a business Seward is always striving for ways to reduce, re-use or recycle wherever possible,” said Stuart Ray, Seward’s Technical Director. “In microbiology testing, we aren’t yet able to eliminate all single-use plastic, however we knew there must be a way of reducing it. I’m happy to say that the new Stomacher bag has surpassed our expectations”.

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