Salmonella is one of the food industry's most problematic food-poisoning bacteria. In 2004 the most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans were salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis, with the most deadly being listerious, according to a European Commission report. Eggs, poultry meat and pork are the major sources of human Salmonella infections.
UK-based Biotrace International claims its Tecra Unique Salmonella test provides a simple and rapid method to detect Salmonella spp. in food and environmental samples in less than 22 hours.
The kit contains all the reagents needed for the testing in ready-to-use, self-contained modules, with the positive and negative controls are built-in. This makes the kit useful for running a single test or for testing multiple samples.
Unlike many other rapid Salmonella tests, Unique Salmonella can be run manually. It can be fully automated using Biotrace's Unique Pplus instrument.
"There is only one simple enrichment step, saving on media and autoclaving costs," Biotrace stated.
The kit can also be used with Biotrace's Quick-Enrich MBPW, a 225mL of sterile modified buffered peptone water pre-dispensed in a stand-up bag. The food sample can be added o the bag, mixed and allowed to incubate.
The Salmonella test is part or Biotrace range of expanding kits. The company has kits for testing for Listeria, Campylobacter and Staphylococcal Enterotoxins.
European consumers have become increasing concerned about food safety, mainly due to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) scare in cattle beginning in the late 1980s, a foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 and of avian flu in 2003 and this year. Consumer concerns have in turn led to tougher regulatory action and increased surveillance of safety in food processing plants.
There were 192,703 reported cases of salmonellosis and 183,961 of campylobacteriosis cases reported during 2004 in the EU, according to a European Commission report. The incidence of salmonellosis represent 42.2 cases per 100,000 population, which represents an increase of 22 per cent when compared with 2003, indicating the higher levels encountered in the new states.