3M™ Petrifilm™ Plate Reader Advanced Named Finalist for the 2022 Edison Awards
3M Food Safety has been named a finalist for the 2022 Edison Awards for its innovative 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plate Reader Advanced in the Commercial Technology category.
Keep reading to learn more about the significance of the Edison Awards, the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced, and its role in helping lab efficiencies, as well as 3M Food Safety’s impressive history with Edison Award wins.
History of The Edison Awards
Named for Thomas Edison (1847-1931), whose incredible product development and inventions changed the world, the Edison Awards have been honoring the most innovative new products and services for more than 30 years. They are judged by the Edison Award Steering Committee, a panel of more than 3,000 leading business executives consisting of past award winners, academics, and leaders in the fields of product development, design, engineering, science and medicine. The committee reviewed more than 350 submissions across all categories for the 2022 awards and determined the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced to be among the most elite submissions.
The Commercial Technology category recognizes advancements in technology that can help improve the world through the application of scientific knowledge to practical technological advancements. As a finalist, 3M Food Safety is recognized for the advancement the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced has brought to the industry.
Advancing Lab Productivity with the 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plate Reader Advanced
In 2003, 3M Food Safety launched the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader that facilitated enumeration of microorganisms in food. Since that time, the number of reported foodborne incidents has continued to increase each year1, and food industry technologies have evolved to address this rise. In 2021, 3M Food Safety launched the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced as an enhancement of previous technology that allows food safety professionals to enumerate more types of 3M Petrifilm Plates quickly and accurately.
By reducing the time it takes a technician to manually count colonies, the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced helps laboratories improve productivity by automatically counting, recording and reporting results while maintaining accuracy comparable to a technician.
The table below demonstrates the increase in time efficiency lab technicians can achieve using the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced. This system achieved up to 94% reduced time to count 3M™ Petrifilm™ Plates2 (see Table 1)– a valuable opportunity for labs to save time. 3
Table 1: Third-party lab results for the 3M Petrifilm Aerobic Count Plate at high inoculum levels
| Technician # | Average Time Savings | Average Colony Count | Total Number of Plates |
| Technician 1 | 94 % | 286 | 75 |
| Technician 2 | 94 % | 295 | 75 |
| Technician 3 | 94 % | 312 | 75 |
| Technician 4 | 94 % | 171 | 75 |
| Technician 5 | 94 % | 157 | 75 |
| Technician 6 | 92 % | 168 | 75 |
| Technician 7 | 94 % | 202 | 75 |
| Technician 8 | 93 % | 215 | 75 |
| Technician 9 | 94 % | 222 | 75 |
| Average | 94 % | 225 | 675 |
Solution to Labor Shortages in Food Safety Labs
Food manufacturers continue to face staffing challenges and in some cases these challenges have been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding, training, and retaining skilled workers has put immense pressure on laboratory teams, on top of the already high expectations to meet and maintain production goals.
Shifting from manual processes to automated technologies is one solution for labs to combat the effects of labor shortages. The 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced can be a valuable resource for laboratories to use to save time.
If you’re ready to advance the efficiency of your lab by automating the imaging, enumeration and tracking of results, 3M might be the right partner for you. Read more about how the 3M Petrifilm Plate Reader Advanced can elevate your lab.
Past Edison Award Winners from 3M Food Safety
Over the past ten years, 3M Food Safety has won seven Edison Awards, exemplifying 3M’s commitment to creating innovative solutions that help solve tough challenges. Past 3M Food Safety winning products include:
3M™ Petrifilm™ Rapid E. coli/Coliform Count Plate, 2019 Gold Winner – this product enables simultaneous detection via a dual readout of lactose fermenting coliforms along with beta-glucuronidase producing E. coli within 18-24 hours.
3M™ Molecular Detection Assay 2, 2017 Gold Winner – a next-generation platform of 3M’s Molecular Detection System that makes molecular detection of foodborne pathogens simpler.
3M™ Petrifilm™ Rapid Yeast & Mold Count Plate, 2015 Bronze Winner – this product allows you to release products between 40 to 70% faster than agar methods.
3M™ Petrifilm™ Salmonella Express System, 2014 Silver Winner – a sustainable, ready-to-use solution for pathogen testing.
3M™ Molecular Detection System, 2013 Silver – an innovative molecular approach for pathogen detection, making it faster and easier than cultural methods by employing isothermal DNA amplification and bioluminescence detection.
Aerobic Procedure for Lactic Acid Bacteria with 3M™ Petrifilm™ Aerobic Count Plates, 2012 Silver Winner – a testing procedure that enables colony-associated acid and gas production visualization to easily count in a sample-ready format.