In food spoilage or deliberate contamination scenarios, the rapid identification of potentially harmful pathogens in food products is key to the safeguarding of the food chain. MassTech Inc. have developed a field-deployable ion-trap mass spectrometer which, when coupled with atmospheric pressure MALDI, can rapidly identify pathogens without the need for overnight culture in a lab. See the applications note 'Analysis of Microorganisms by Atmospheric Pressure Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization and MT Explorer 100 Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer' here.
