Food safety boost: Thermo Fisher’s new Salmonella testing system detects threat in under 16 hours

02 Feb 2021 --- Thermo Fisher Scientific’s latest testing innovation, RapidFinder Salmonella Multiplex Kit, can detect and identify Salmonella species, such as Typhimurium and Enteritidis in under 16 hours.

The new method significantly improves the process as until now, Salmonella testing involved confirming the presence of the bacteria and after this carrying out further tests to identify the serotype before taking the relevant corrective action.

Compared with running separate PCR tests, the RapidFinder Salmonella Multiplex Kit workflow can reduce the cost of consumable goods by up to 50 percent, significantly lower labor costs and increase food safety confidence. 

A fast path to actionable answer
The company’s RapidFinder Salmonella species, Typhimurium and Enteritidis Multiplex Flex Kit workflow is the only validated, certified system that can identify Salmonella species. Moreover, it can differentiate between serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium and it can return next-day results. 

In short, it streamlines testing workflow and drastically reduces the wait time from testing to intervention or product release, says Thermo Fisher.

The system, which is internationally validated for detecting the three targets in primary production samples – ground turkey, pork and poultry meat, shell eggs and production environment samples – offers in-house and contract testing laboratories. 

According to Thermo Fisher, the simple sample preparation step provides scalability to higher-throughput and sample volumes. Additionally, the applied Biosystems TaqMan-based qPCR technology is touted for its accuracy in sensitivity, specificity and reliability.

The process for testing is often an expensive, time-consuming journey that delays workflows, impacts timelines and introduces risk into the food chain.

A global threat
Today, food producers are more than aware of their moral and regulatory duty to protect public health and look for laboratories that can provide a targeted, streamlined approach.

Salmonella is a global threat to the public, business and health, says the company. 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that the bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths in the US every year. The estimated annual cost to healthcare systems in the US is more than US$3.6 billion.

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s latest testing innovation can detect Salmonella species, Typhimurium and Enteritidis, under 16 hours.It’s a problem that regulators are increasingly attempting to tackle. Both the US and Europe have introduced tracking requirements for the two serotypes most responsible for human infection, Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium, in poultry and other high-risk areas, such as pork and eggs.

“Salmonella outbreaks take a tremendous toll on our food supply channel. The cost to the global economy, in terms of hospitalizations, litigation, loss of work and loss of life, are in the billions of dollars,” explains Bernd Hofmann, vice president at Thermo Fisher. 

It also has a significant impact on organizations, as an outbreak can have significant implications for brand integrity, he notes. 

“At the same time, the globalization of the food supply chain means ever-evolving, more complex regulations, as governments work to ensure consumer health.”

Thermo Fisher is focused on providing the industry with solutions that can help mitigate that impact, continues Hofmann.

“The RapidFinder solution provides actionable data from a single rapid workflow for the simultaneous real-time PCR detection and differentiation of Salmonella species from poultry and pork meats, eggs, environmental samples and primary production samples,” Hofmann notes.

Edited by Elizabeth Green