Salmonella detection kit

Applied Biosystems has announced the certification of its TaqMan Salmonella enterica Detection Kit for the identification of Salmonella in peanut butter through the Emergency Response Validation program of the AOAC Research Institute.

Validation of the Applied Biosystems kit is part of an effort to effectively respond to the recent peanut butter contamination crisis, which resulted in the largest food recall in US history. The TaqMan Salmonella enterica Detection Kit is a molecular-based tool for monitoring the safety of the food supply that could help avoid recalls of food products in the future.

The Emergency Response Validation program is intended to enhance the ability of government and industry to test the food supply for Salmonella, which has been implicated in several recent US outbreaks, including peppers, sprouts and tomatoes.

As part of this program, the AOAC is extending validation of several methods previously certified for the identification of Salmonella in various foods to include detection in peanut butter. This supports food companies’ increasing measures to prevent contaminated foods from reaching consumers.

The detection kit is a real-time, PCR-based method that identifies pathogens by detecting their DNA in food samples, allowing food companies and regulators to quickly and accurately detect contamination. This kit enables testing laboratories to obtain results in less than 20 hours, which is faster than alternative methods which can take up to five days.