FAQ

A Petri dish is a shallow, circular dish with a loose-fitting lid to cover culture bacteria and other microorganisms. Invented by Julius R. Petri (1852-1921), a German bacteriologist, the first dish was originally made of glass.
(Click here to view the history of Petri dishes)

The STAR™DISH is our own line of patented, environmentally-preferable Petri dishes which allows up to 35% reduction in the amount of polystyrene used to manufacture each dish thus further reducing disposal waste and cost.

A “nesting” dish has a recessed lid allowing the dishes to nest/sit on top of each other to prevent from slipping and sliding. The base fits neatly and precisely inside the top of the lid thus giving the STAR™DISH “nesting alpine” a unique feature not available elsewhere in the market; superior stacking stability.

The ventilation lugs (vents) moulded on the underside of the lid allow for venting, and prevent condensation from developing and dripping onto culture. It allows the exchange of gases between the inside of the dish and the external environmental. Non-vented dishes, on the other hand, will seal tight on the edge of the base creating an anaerobic condition.

The Isoplater or ISO is a frosted marking moulded on the base of a dish which serves as a target for automated media pouring equipment that requires a mark detectable by “laser” or infrared light to orient a plate to the same position all the time.

Yes. All Phoenix Biomedical Petri dishes are sterile. They are manufactured inside ISO Class 5 cleanrooms and additionally under the company’s extra tight air cleanliness limits.
(Click here to find out more about the cleanroom technology).

Each lot undergoes a thorough sterility testing conducted by an independent, certified microbiological laboratory before Sterility Certificates are issued. The testing procedure follows the current USP edition.
The Certificates are available to our customers upon request.

Yes. All Phoenix Biomedical Petri dishes are pyrogen-free.
The Certification is available upon request.

All Phoenix Biomedical Petri dishes are made of crystal-clear, virgin, high molecular medical grade polystyrene.

There is no difference, as these are just nominal sizes. A Petri dish referred to as 100x15mm in North and South America is exactly the same dish referred to as 90x15mm in Europe, Middle East, Far East and Australia. The exception is Product #356, which has an exact dimension of 100x15mm.

Phoenix products are available in the 600 plates per case packaging configuration, also called the “Eco-pack”, instead of 500 Petri dishes. Our packaging design is highly innovative. In a case of 90x15mm Petri dishes, the 600 dishes are divided into two independent packs of 300 plates, each surrounded by a liner. Each pack contains 12 sleeves of 25 dishes. This easy-to-handle packaging design allows for controlled hygienic transfers of the carton content to the laboratory or cleanroom.

For shipping overseas, the most economical way to ship Petri dishes is in a 40-foot sea-going container which holds approximately 825 cases of our 600 per case packaging. Shipping in a 20-foot container is the second best choice. This size holds approximately 360 cases of our 600 per case packaging. 

“ISO” is the International Standards for Quality Assurance that is a well-recognized benchmark world-wide, particularly in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. When you purchase a product or service from a company that is ISO registered, you have the assurance of the excellent quality of its products and service.

Yes, Phoenix is ISO 9001 Certified since 1995. (To view our ISO certification, please click here)

Please contact us via E-mail and we will be happy to provide you with information as requested.