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SAN CLEMENTE, CA -- 06/09/09 -- 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.
CONTACT:
Michael Brennan
Chairman
Email: Email
Contact
Telephone: (805) 557-0614
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