PathoGenetix, Inc. recently announced that Marshfield Food Safety, LLC, a full service microbiology and chemistry contract testing laboratory, has completed an independent evaluation of PathoGenetix's RESOLUTION™ Microbial Genotyping System. The three-week evaluation tested the speed, utility and ease-of-use of the RESOLUTION instrument, assays and database for food industry applications.

The System isolates and analyzes microbial DNA directly from enriched food and clinical samples, without a pure culture isolate, to strain type target bacteria in just five hours even when multiple serovars are present. In all, Marshfield tested 77 Salmonella isolates sourced from its internal collection of “tough-to-type” strains, as well as several naturally contaminated food samples. Marshfield compared the molecular serotyping capability of the RESOLUTION System to traditional serological analysis, as well as used the strain typing capability of the RESOLUTION System to determine the relatedness of the isolates.

Marshfield Food Safety CEO Roy Radcliff and his technical team conducted the evaluation at their core laboratory in Marshfield, WI. The Marshfield team found both an improved ease-of-use and specificity of strain and serotype identification over other identification systems currently in use at Marshfield. The team also reported that the RESOLUTION System was successful in identifying Salmonella isolates that they had not been able to accurately type previously using traditional serotyping methods.

“The RESOLUTION System could become a very powerful tool for the food industry,” Radcliff said. “The robustness and the ability of the instrument to identify multiple strains in a sample or to identify strains from a secondary enrichment rather than a pure isolate make it very appealing.”

In addition, the System’s ability to re-analyze sample data as new strain patterns are added to the RESOLUTION database provides great value to Marshfield’s food industry customers, Radcliff noted. Marshfield provides full service microbiology and chemistry testing and food safety risk management services to clients along the food chain from farm to table. In addition to conducting laboratory services for national food producers in its corporate laboratory, Marshfield also designs and staffs onsite quality and safety testing laboratories for food producers around the U.S.

“The speed at which the RESOLUTION System can confirm and identify pathogens in screen-test positive samples will enable food producers to react much more quickly and proactively than with current confirm/ID methods,” said John Czajka, vice president of business development for PathoGenetix. "This will help producers reduce product loss due to continued contamination and to minimize or eliminate future contamination events, thereby maintaining product quality and ultimately preserving brand value."

The RESOLUTION Microbial Genotyping System is the first commercial application of PathoGenetix’s proprietary Genome Sequence Scanning™ technology, and has been developed for food safety testing in the food industry and in public health foodborne illness outbreak investigations. For more information, visit PathoGenetix's website.