Lab Testing

Hotdogs could become contaminated during any of the steps in their production. The floors, equipment, and all surfaces that have come into contact with the meat must be tested for bacteria. When testing the plant we first take swabs from all the possible points of infection. The bacteria from these swabs are then grown into large samples called cultures. We isolate bacteria from colonies of likely Listeria in the culture and then extract their DNA. This DNA is riboprinted and the bacteria can then be identified, including their strains.