Open Science is leading the way for food safety in Brazil. As the leading producer of beef, poultry, pork, ethanol, coffee, orange juice concentrate, sugar, and tobacco, Brazil has seen farm exports grow an average of 20% a year since 2000.  In response to such phenomenal growth, challenges relating to food safety also have grown.  Addressing this important issue, DuPont has joined forces with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture to help protect crops and consumers from pathogens.

The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) has purchased a DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter® system to create a database of microorganisms that are identified by geographic region. The patented RiboPrinter® system is the world’s only automated DNA fingerprinting instrument that rapidly pinpoints sources of bacteria for food safety.

The system produces and compares a genetic “snapshot”—a RiboPrint® pattern—against a database of more than 6,000 patterns to identify a potential pathogen in only eight hours. Because the RiboPrinter® system can include historical information and also characterize bacteria below the species level, food producers and processors can track groups of offending microbes and recognize trends in the environment.

The RiboPrinter® system will also be used in MAPA’s Pathogen Reduction Plan for the meat and poultry industries. The plan requires that all positive results for salmonella and listeria be identified and characterized by genus and species. In this context, the RiboPrinter® system will be used for the identification and characterization of the bacteria and the development of an electronic database containing patterns of all ribotyped strains of bacteria identified in the food samples.

As Brazil’s meteoric rise as a global agricultural powerhouse continues to gather momentum, DuPont will be there, promoting food safety innovation and developing partnerships to safeguard crops and consumers.

Open Science  applies the power of collaboration to transform today’s challenges into tomorrow’s solutions.