FAQs on our Prepared Media

We receive numerous questions every day about the Redipor range of prepared media products and SAS active air samplers. The answers to the most frequently asked questions can be found on the FAQs page. We cannot publish the answers to every question we are asked but here are the answers we give to other common questions we receive from customers about Redipor prepared culture media: Q: “Which way up should I store my agar plates”?Redipor agar petri dishes A: “For all types of plates (contact, 55mm, 90mm and 140mm) with the agar at the bottom which you will find is as packed. This is the most secure orientation for transport and storage of sealed packs. Redipor plates are conditioned at room temperature before packing. Our unique process stabilises the moisture content to minimise condensation.” Q: “Is the standard plate packaging impermeable to VHP (Vaporised Hydrogen Peroxide)?”redipor prepared media, agar plates A: “We have not validated the flow wrap for VHP permeability so the answer is we do not know. The same can be said for those products where the old style poly bags with cling film are still used. We believe the Barrier Packs offer you the best solution when fumigating plate packs in Isolators or RABs as they have been validated.” Q: “Are the raw materials in Redipor prepared media TSE Free?” A: “Our suppliers guarantee the source of any animal related products are from countries where BSE is either not endemic or completely absent (Australia, New Zealand and the USA). If you require our TSE Policy statement please contact us.” Q: “Do you sell CE marked media for Clinical Diagnostics?”Redipor prepared microbiological media used for aseptic process validation A: “No. The focus for Cherwell Laboratories has always been supplying to Pharmaceuticals, Biotech, Hospital Pharmacies and Steriles (Medical Devices) manufacturing. We also supply some prepared media to Toiletries & Cosmetics, Agri-Food & Beverage manufacturers, research, education and environment. CE marked media has different requirements in terms of Quality Control Testing for pathogens. Much of the media used in clinical diagnostics requires refrigeration as they contain unstable ingredients such as blood and certain antibiotics. As the Redipor range of prepared media is all about room temperature storage, we do not make media used in clinical diagnostics.” Q: “The agar in the plates have cracked by the end of incubation. Is this a problem and if so how can it be fixed? prepared media, contact plates, settle plates, environmental monitoring plates A: “It is inevitable that settle plates will lose moisture during exposure and incubation. The requirement is that sufficient water activity remains at the end of incubation to support microbial growth. Cracking or splitting of the agar is undesirable because if there is growth on the plate it might spread along the crack and result in difficult or erroneous colony counting. Otherwise, it is not necessarily a problem. If you are exposing plates in an environment with lower relative humidity or more air changes, such as a biological safety cabinets, UDAF or isolators; you might find that a deeper fill plate will perform better. Both Tryptone Soya Agar (TSA) and Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SDA) irradiated Redipor plates are also available with a 27ml fill volume. Q: “My daughters are having a school science week and have been asked to devise a science experiment. We wanted to look at bacteria around the house (keyboard, door handle, finger tips etc.). Can you advise us please?” A: “Microbiology in the home can be both interesting and safe provided you take sensible precautions. You don’t say what age your daughters are but you might consider that the risk of handling agar plates when they have grown bacteria, is similar to them handling a piece of rotting food – so you would want to supervise their hygiene and keep everything sealed. You and the school might also want to think about whether you want them to take the resulting plates into school. There is a document from an organisation that encourages study of microbiology and promotes safety which you might find helpful: http://www.misac.org.uk/PDFs/MISAC_safety_guidelines.pdf.” If you have a question that we have not covered either here or on our frequently asked questions page, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we are happy to offer help and advice.

For more information on FAQs on our Prepared Media talk to Cherwell Laboratories Ltd