About ComBase
ComBase is an online tool for quantitative food microbiology. Its main pillars are the ComBase database and the ComBase Predictor. The focus is to study and predict how microorganisms survive and grow under a variety of (primarily food-related) conditions.
ComBase is a useful tool for food companies developing new products, or for those seeking to understand the safest way of producing or storing them. It can help food companies looking to reformulate foods, regulatory officers to provide quantitative risk assessment, and trainers/students to access relevant information fast and comfortably.
Over 50,000 records have been collected on how food processing and storage conditions, such as temperature, pH, and water activity, as well as other factors, like preservatives or atmosphere affect the growth of foodborne bacteria, where one record represents either the temporal variation of the log cell concentration or just the derived maximum specific growth rate at a particular combination of those factors. Mathematical models have been developed on systematically generated data to predict how various organisms grow or survive under those conditions.
The tools help companies minimise the amount of testing they need to do themselves, which can be a lengthy and expensive process. They can also help troubleshoot when problems occur. A recent independent assessment of ComBase’s impact showed that every hour in testing saved by all of Combase’s users is worth £1milion.