Randox Food Diagnostics said this week that Sądecki Bartnik, a major Polish honey producer, has adopted its biochip array technology for antibiotic screening.
According to Randox, Sądecki Bartnik is the third European honey maker to move to its platform. France's Lune de Miel and Germany's Langnesse decided to adopt Randox's technology two years ago.
Aaron Tohill, manager of Randox's Food Diagnostics business, said in a statement that the agreement "strengthens [Randox's] position within the continental and global marketplace." He also noted that Randox's products are being adopted at a time when "EU rapid alerts [are] showing regular issues surrounding antimicrobials within the region."
As part of the deal, Sądecki Bartnik will obtain two of Randox's Evidence Investigator Analyzers and a supply of antimicrobial testing kits. The new tools will be used at Sądecki Bartnik's main production sites in Poland and Ukraine. Sądecki Bartnik previously used microtiter-plate-based receptor binding assays to screen its products, Randox said.
Randox continues to build a menu of arrays for food producers. Earlier this month, the company launched a test for coccidiostats in poultry meat and eggs (BAN 10/1/2013). Last year, it introduced an assay to test livestock for the presence of antiparasitic drugs (BAN 10/9/2012).