US Department of Agriculture food safety and inspection service has evaluated methods of monitoring botulinum and has selected these assays
Food safety in the United States has recently been given a boost in the form of a new botulinum toxin detection assay from Igen International.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which is responsible for ensuring that the United States's commercial supply of meat, poultry and egg products is safe to eat, purchased the assays following a period of laboratory evaluation.
Botulinum toxin is a particularly serious threat to national safety, largely because it is one of the most poisonous substances in nature and a quantity equivalent to the weight of a paperclip is sufficient to kill almost a million people.
Igen says it has successfully used its proprietary Origen technology to develop extremely sensitive and rapid tests for the detection of these toxins in food samples.
In the last year, Igen has also expanded its line of Origen-based products and developed tests for the detection of various biological agents including anthrax and staphylococcus enterotoxin B, which will be commercially available to non-government customers in due course.
There is currently increasing demand worldwide for biodefense technology and, in addition to working closely with US government agencies, Igen is also in discussions with a number of European governments - including UK, Germany, Spain and Sweden - about its detection systems.
