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RapidREF 88030
Liofilchem
Coagulase test 5 vials containing 4 ml of rabbit plasma
Staphylococcus aureusOthers
Organism · Solutions
Staphylococcus aureus testing
Staphylococcus aureus is primarily a handling-hygiene indicator — its presence points to human contact — but it also produces a heat-stable toxin that survives the cooking step that kills the organism itself.
Golden-yellow colonies · Baird-Parker agarWhy Staphylococcus aureus testing is demanding
S. aureus is carried by a large proportion of healthy people, which is why its presence in food is read primarily as a signal of handling contamination — a lapse in personal hygiene, glove use, or post-process handling of ready-to-eat product.
The complication is its enterotoxin. The toxin is heat-stable and the organism is not, so a cooking or pasteurisation step can leave a product that tests negative for viable S. aureus while still carrying active toxin. This is why enumeration limits are set well below the level at which toxin production becomes a concern, rather than at the level of detection.
Enumeration on Baird-Parker agar with egg yolk tellurium remains the reference approach, with coagulase confirmation distinguishing S. aureus from other staphylococci. The coagulase step is what makes the count defensible, and it is the step most often skipped under time pressure.
- Role
- Handling indicator
- Result type
- Enumeration
- Reference method
- ISO 6888-1
- Result
- 24–48 h
Methods compared
Enumeration and confirmation — where each method earns its place.
- Traditional · ISO 6888-1Baird-Parker enumeration
Colony-count technique on Baird-Parker agar with egg yolk tellurite, followed by coagulase confirmation of characteristic colonies.
Time to result24–48 h - RapidChromogenic differentiation
Chromogenic formats that differentiate S. aureus at the plate-reading stage, reducing the number of colonies requiring coagulase confirmation.
Time to result24 h - Molecular · PCR · ELISAToxin and confirmation
ELISA for staphylococcal enterotoxin where a heat-treated product is implicated, and PCR confirmation where species-level certainty is required.
Time to resultSame day
If the product has been heat-treated, consider whether toxin — not the organism — is the real question.
Ask usProducts for Staphylococcus aureus testing
A selection spanning culture media, rapid formats and molecular assays. The full range is in the catalogue.
Standards & compliance
The references an S. aureus programme is measured against.
- ISO 6888-1
- Horizontal method for the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci — technique using Baird-Parker agar medium.
- ISO 19020
- Immunoenzymatic detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins, applied where a heat-treated product is implicated.
- SFDA
- Supplied through an SFDA-licensed establishment, aligned to Kingdom requirements for the matrices you test.
- ISO/IEC 17025
- Suitable for accredited laboratories, with lot documentation and traceability available on request.
Sourced from the brands your methods are built on.
Testing for Staphylococcus aureus?
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