As a response to growing concern, Applied Biosystems is expanding its presence in the food testing market by providing pathogen detection kits directly to food companies and food testing laboratories
The issue of food safety is increasingly in the news.
In the past two months alone, there have been numerous reported outbreaks of salmonella contamination, including reports of this pathogen in pancake mix, pot pies, raw eggs, sprouts and ahi tuna.
This is having an impact on perceptions of the food supply.
For instance, a Food Marketing Institute 2007 survey found that only 66 percent of Americans are confident that the food they buy is safe.
Among the company's pathogen detection solutions is the TaqMan Salmonella enterica detection kit, which is now available to help food companies and food testing organisations monitor the global food supply for salmonella, which is one of the most prevalent pathogens causing food-borne illness.
The chemistry of this particular pathogen detection kit identifies a wide range of salmonella strains to provide surveillance and analysis of food products.
The Applied Biosystems Salmonella detection kit is a real-time PCR-based method that identifies pathogens in food at the molecular level, enabling food companies to quickly and accurately detect contamination.
As a result, food companies can take timely action to prevent harmful outbreaks of food-borne illness and avoid costly recalls of food products.
With this detection kit, food testing laboratories can obtain results in less than 24 hours.
This is significantly faster than alternative methods, which can take up to five days.
Results are obtained through a software-guided assay process that simplifies the use of this advanced genetics-based technology.
The Applied Biosystems Salmonella detection kit is certified by the AOAC Research Institute and the Afaq Afnor certification board.
These are two of the most prominent food industry standard certification organisations for validating products used for food safety testing in North America and Europe.
This kit earned the Performance Tested Methods certification from the AOAC Research Institute and earned the ISO-compliant Afnor validation (ISO 16140) distinction from Afaq Afnor.
"Food companies and testing organisations have a tremendous responsibility to help safeguard public health as it relates to the food supply," said Sharon Brunelle, technical consultant, AOAC Research Institute.
"As a result, these organisations have stringent requirements for the tools and methods they use to analyse food for potential contamination.
"Applied Biosystems has demonstrated that the TaqMan Salmonella enterica detection kit performs as well or better than the ISO reference method in the performance tested methods certification process".
Applied Biosystems's newly certified salmonella kit is optimised for use with the company's industry-leading real-time PCR instrument systems.
Real-time PCR is a laboratory method widely used in academic and industry laboratories to simultaneously detect and determine the amount of nucleic acids present in samples.
The company offers one of the most comprehensive lines of real-time PCR chemistries and instrument systems.
Applied Biosystems is a global leader in the development and commercialisation of instrument-based systems, consumables, software and services for the life science market.
The company has been providing automated, genetics-based pathogen detection systems and kits through third-party channels to the food industry for more than two years.
In addition, Applied Biosystems offers kits to identify other pathogens, including E coli O157:H7, campylobacter, staphylococcus, E sakazakii, pseudomonas, and listeria.
To identify harmful chemicals, Applied Biosystems offers Cliquid software for food testing, which is based on Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex mass spectrometry technology.
Cliquid software is said to be the first automated application for detection of food contaminants, such as pesticides, dyes and mould-related toxins.
"Increasing food safety has become a higher priority globally with government calling for stricter inspections and industry seeking more accurate and faster detection," said Robert Barrett, vice president for Applied Biosystems's applied markets division.
"These inspections are only as good as the tools used to inspect the food for contamination.
"Applied Biosystems is committed to putting more powerful pathogen detection capabilities directly into the laboratories of food processors to ensure the food our families eat is safe."
