BD Difco Hycheck™ DE Neutralizing Agar, Pk of 10

Hycheck™ is a hygiene contact slide used to assess the microbiological contamination of surfaces or fluids.

SUMMARY AND EXPLANATION
Monitoring the microbial flora of environmental surfaces, walls, ceilings and equipment is an important stage in achieving good manufacturing practices in factories handling foods, cosmetics or pharmaceuticals. To maintain good hygiene standards in hotels and restaurant kitchens, microbiological contamination must also be monitored. Methods to monitor the environmental flora have been described using either swabbing techniques or contact plates. Contact slides were created to monitor the microbial flora of liquids (e.g. urine, milk) and equipment surfaces in the clinical and food industries. Contact slides are statistically comparable to swab and contact plates for surface sampling.

The Hycheck contact slides were developed for the testing of fluids and surfaces for microbial cleanliness.Hycheck is a double-sided, hinged plastic paddle containing two agar surfaces. The agar surface extends above the paddle allowing for contact with test surfaces. The hinged paddle allows the agar surface to be easily held against each test area during sampling. The surface area of the paddle is clearly divided into seven units of one centimeter each to allow direct counting of microbial density per unit area.

PRINCIPLES OF THE PROCEDURE
Pancreatic digest of casein and other peptones provide carbon and nitrogen. Yeast extract provides vitamins, cofactors, nitrogen and carbon. Papaic digest of soybean meal provides nitrogen, vitamins and minerals. Dextrose (glucose) provides fermentable carbohydrate. Sodium chloride maintains osmotic equilibrium. Agar is the solidifying agent.