Abstract: The contamination of foodstuffs, additives, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and the like by undesirable micro-organisms is threat to public health. On occasion, the level of bacteria that conventional testing techniques are designed to look for is so low that the test result for the bacterium is “negative”. However, the bacterium although present in un-detectably small amounts may multiply under the right conditions and given the shelf life of the product, may be able to recover to an extent whereby public health is threatened. This problem is alleviated by the provision of micro-organism testing apparatus comprising (a) an incubator, and (b) a multi-compartment resealable container provided with or adapted to receive a growth medium in one compartment and having a growth medium additive in another compartment, the compartments being separated by a barrier whose removal or puncture will expose the medium to the additive.

Abstract: A method of tracking and predicting the spread of micro-organisms in an environment relies on the optical detection of the growth of micro-organisms within an analyte containing a growth medium for the micro-organism(s) to be detected. Standardisation of the containers and growth medium for each micro-organism allows rapid detection of the growth pattern of particular organisms and the implementation of a regime of remote self-reporting of results from portable incubator units (1201) in the field which include a memory (1206) to store the results, a GPS unit (1204) to provide location information and a transmitter (1203) to send the results to a central plotting organisation allowing rapid tracking and prediction of the spread of environmentally borne organisms.

Abstract: A multi-compartment resealable container for testing for the presence of micro-organisms is provided with or adapted to receive a sample in a first substantially rigid transparent compartment, a growth medium in a second compartment, and a sanitizer in a third compartment, the compartments being separated by foil seals, the second and third compartments have an associated plunger which when depressed causes serrated cutters to puncture the foil seal and allow the contents to be added to the liquid containing or comprising the sample.

Abstract: A multi-compartment resealable container for testing for the presence of micro-organisms is provided with or adapted to receive a sample in a first substantially rigid transparent compartment, a growth medium in a second compartment, and a sanitizer in a third compartment, the compartments being separated by foil seals, the second and third compartments have an associated plunger which when depressed causes serrated cutters to puncture the foil seal and allow the contents to be added to the liquid containing or comprising the sample.