Applied Biosystems' Taqman Salmonella enterica Detection Kit has been certified through the new Emergency Response Validation programme of the AOAC Research Institute.
The Taqman Salmonella enterica Detection Kit is used for the identification of Salmonella in peanut butter.
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 food supplies, and could help avoid costly recalls of food products in the future.
The Emergency Response Validation programme is intended to enhance the ability of government and industry to test food supplies for Salmonella, which has been implicated in several recent outbreaks, including peppers, sprouts and tomatoes.
The outbreak in peanut butter sickened hundreds of people, and has been implicated in at least nine deaths.
As part of this programme, 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 Taqman Salmonella enterica 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.
The kit enables testing laboratories to obtain results in less than 20 hours, which is significantly faster than alternative methods, which can take up to five days.
