Micro Imaging Technology 1000 Rapid Microbial Identification System Receives AOAC Research Institute Listeria Performance Test Method Certification

SAN CLEMENTE, CA--(Marketwire - June 09, 2009) - 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

Back to news