St. Paul, MN 9/7/17—3M Food Safety, a provider of pathogen and hygiene monitoring solutions, has purchased Elution Technologies from Bia Diagnostics and Immunology Consultants Laboratory for an undisclosed amount. Elution supplies test kits for allergen testing of food and beverage products. Its product lines consist of more than 30 lateral flow and ELISA kits for testing food and environmental samples. “Elution Technologies’ test kits offer proven technology with an easy-to-use design that delivers fast and accurate results for companies offering peanut-free, gluten-free and other specialized foods for people with certain sensitivities and allergies,” commented Polly Foss, general manager of 3M Food Safety.

The acquisition adds a complete portfolio of fast, easy-to-use allergen testing products to 3M Food Safety’s offerings. Eric Amann, Business and Integration manager for 3M Food Safety, told IBO, “Other than its 3M Clean Trace Surface Protein tests (pass/fail tests that confirm the presence of proteins, but not specific allergens), 3M Food Safety has thus far not offered a broad set of allergen tests to the market.” He also described how 3M Food Safety plans to grow the product line. “In addition to expanding the availability of the assays around the world through its global sales network, 3M Food Safety’s leadership and R&D team intend to add to the portfolio of assays over time.” He said no employees were involved in the acquisition as Elution had utilized employees of its parent company. Among 3M Food Safety’s other product lines are LAMP (Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification)–based food safety testing kits and instruments, and microbiology testing consumables.