Whatman Inc., a global leader in separations technology, today announced the company’s increased growth and expertise in the food safety industry. The Whatman FTA® and lateral flow diagnostics products are being used to create traceability systems for the outbreak of Mad Cow disease and other infected meat diseases.

Whatman’s increased presence in the beef supply chain and traceability system can be seen throughout the various stages of the process. Whatman bar-coded FTA cards are used to collect blood samples from live cattle while moving through production. During the slaughter process and the case-ready production, Whatman FTA is used to capture the DNA of a piece of the livestock meat which is pressed onto the bar-coded cards and stored in a file cabinet at room temperature for analysis and auditing. Once the product has been packaged for retail sale, Whatman FTA is referenced in the final DNA profile and compared to earlier samples for quality control audits or recalls.

Celentis Limited, the business arm of AgResearch Limited and a manufacturer of DNA sampling strips used in meat traceability systems, has been widely called upon to provide a method to diagnose and track food scares such as Mad Cow disease. Whatman FTA is the cornerstone of its easiTrace meat traceability system. “Particular care has been used in the choice of materials used in the manufacturing process of easiTrace,” said M G Treloar, commercial manager at Celentis Limited. “With Whatman FTA, there is not only an ease of biological sampling via a device which can then be affixed to an identification substrate, but also subsequent DNA analysis is enhanced largely irrespective of storage conditions and storage time.”

Whatman FTA is a unique technology that allows for the safe and rapid isolation of pure DNA at room temperature. Samples colleted on Whatman FTA-treated products provide end-users with an established range of effective tools and innovative solutions for the collection, purification, transportation and archive of nucleic acids. Whatman FTA technology is widely used in industries including biotechnology, environmental science, medicine, forensics and agriculture to collect and store DNA.

“Food safety is an issue of concern that touches every population,” said Martin Smith, vice president of research and development for Whatman. “Whatman is committed to helping scientists stay on the cutting edge of food-safety, providing a simple and efficient method to track potential disease through the capture of genetic identification.”

In addition, Whatman has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the development of a universal template preparation protocol using Whatman’s proven FTA technology for the detection of human pathogens, such as bacteria, parasitic protozoa and viral particles, found in foods, soil, water and clinical specimens. Once complete, it is envisioned that this method would be applied to most, if not all, food matrices.

Whatman has also found success with the company’s glass fiber, nitrocellulose membranes and cellulose fibers used in a lateral flow test. This efficient and effective solution for testing Mad Cow disease or other infected meat diseases is currently in use in Germany.

About Whatman
Whatman is a global leader in separations technology and is known in the scientific community for providing innovative life science products and solutions. Our instinct for simplification accelerates the rate of discovery, reduces costs and saves time. In order to focus on the unique needs of our customers, Whatman is organized into four business development units: Analytical Chemistry, Diagnostics, Genomics & Proteomics and Medical Devices.