Contact Information: CONTACT: Michael Brennan Chairman Email: Telephone: (805) 557-0614
MIT 1000 Rapid Microbial Identification System Receives AOAC Research Institute Listeria Performance Test Method Certification
| Source: Micro Imaging Technology, Inc.
SAN CLEMENTE, CA--(Marketwire - June 9, 2009) - Micro Imaging Technology, Inc. (OTCBB : MMTC ) announced that it has received AOAC Research Institute (AOAC RI)
Performance Test Method (PTM) certification for the MIT 1000 System's
(System) identification of Listeria species (PTM Certificate Number
060901). Listeria are known to be the bacteria responsible for
listeriosis, a rare but lethal food-borne infection that has a devastating
case fatality rate of 25% (Salmonella, in comparison, has a less than 1%
mortality rate). They are incredibly hardy and able to grow in temperatures
ranging from 4°C (39°F), the temperature of a refrigerator, to 37°C (99°F),
the body's internal temperature. Furthermore, listeriosis' deadliness can
be partially attributed to the infection's ability to spread to the nervous
system and cause meningitis.
AOAC RI's "expert reviewers" performed a thorough evaluation of MIT's PTM
validation study report that included 81 bacterial identification (ID)
tests and resulted in a 99% accuracy score with only one incorrect ID. In
addition, 406 ruggedness tests were conducted to evaluate the System's
flexibility should a user vary the test procedure from that specified by
MIT. The PTM validation study report will be available for viewing on the
AOAC RI Validated Methods web site
(http://www.aoac.org/testkits/testedmethods.html). The study report will
also be published in the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL and a certification
article will be published later this year in the AOAC Magazine, "Inside
Laboratory Management."
The MIT 1000 System performs rapid and low cost microbial IDs in a process
that is significantly different from all other ID methods as it does not
rely on chemical or biological agents, conventional processing, fluorescent
tags, gas chromatography or DNA analysis. The process is totally GREEN
requiring only clean water and a sample of the unknown bacteria. Initially,
the Company will target sales in the food industry where over $3 billion is
spent in rapid ID testing annually and rising at nearly 10 percent per
year.
John Ricardi, MIT's Vice President and COO, stated, "This Certification
enables MIT to aggressively begin marketing its System into the targeted
food safety markets. Following Listeria certification, MIT's next goal is
to achieve PTM certifications for the ID of E.coli and Salmonella as these
three bacteria are responsible for most of the food bacterial contamination
events worldwide. Since the AOAC RI Test Protocols should be similar, our
goal is to have these in place later this year. Additional microbes will be
certified as required by the market."
"This is a significant milestone for the Company and its MIT 1000 System.
We can now broaden our focus to include sales in parallel with continued
product development that together, should accelerate growth and
profitability," stated Michael Brennan, MIT's Chairman and CEO.
About AOAC INTERNATIONAL and AOAC Research Institute:
AOAC INTERNATIONAL is a globally recognized, independent, not-for-profit
association founded in 1884. To attain its vision of "worldwide confidence
in analytical results," AOAC serves analytical science communities by
providing the tools and processes necessary to develop voluntary consensus
standards or technical standards through stakeholder consensus and working
groups in which the fit-for-purpose and method performance criteria are
established and fully documented. The AOAC Research Institute is a
subsidiary of AOAC INTERNATIONAL and maintains an up-to-the minute list of
certified Performance Tested Methods which have been independently tested,
rigorously evaluated and thoroughly reviewed by the AOAC Research Institute
and its expert reviewers.
About Micro Imaging Technology:
MIT is a California-based public company that has developed and patented a
rapid microbial ID System that can revolutionize the pathogenic ID process
and annually save thousands of lives and tens of millions of dollars. The
System IDs bacteria in minutes, not days, and at a significant per test
cost savings when compared to any conventional method. Revenues for all
rapid testing methods exceed $5 billion annually -- with food safety
accounting for over $3 billion -- having expanded at a rate of 9.2 percent
annually since 1998. Current growth projections are at 30 percent annually
with test demands driven by major health, safety and homeland security
issues.
The System is laser and optically based and uses the proven principles of
light scattering in conjunction with proprietary PC-based software
algorithms to ID microbes and create a proprietary database. MIT, through
independent testing, has proven the ability with high accuracy to ID the
most dangerous and pervasive pathogens: E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, and
Staphylococcus aureus (a.k.a. Staph) and twenty (20) other species of
bacterium.
The MIT 1000 System has numerous ID applications including food quality
control, clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical quality assurance,
semiconductor processing control and water quality monitoring. MIT has
chosen to focus initial efforts on food quality control as recent events
have created an urgent demand for quicker and cheaper testing -- demands
that will promote a high-value return on any investment in MIT's
technology.
Please visit our web site: www.micro-imaging.com
This release contains statements that are forward-looking in nature.
Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to
future events or conditions or that include words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar
expressions are forward-looking statements. These statements are made
based upon information available to the Company as of the date of this
release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and
actual results could differ materially from our current expectations.
Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are
not limited to dependence on suppliers; short product life cycles and
reductions in unit selling prices; delays in development or shipment of new
products; lack of market acceptance of our new products or services;
inability to continue to develop competitive new products and services on a
timely basis; introduction of new products or services by major
competitors; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees;
inability to expand our operations to support increased growth; and
declining economic conditions, including a recession. These and other
factors and risks associated with our business are discussed from time to
time within our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.