3M Food Safety has announced its 3M™ Molecular Detection Assay Salmonella has received an extension of the current NF VALIDATION certificate from AFNOR CERTIFICATION. The AFNOR CERTIFICATION expert committee found 3M’s assay to be as or more effective than standard methods for detecting Salmonella spp. in seafood and vegetable products, as well as in environmental samples taken from food processing sites. This follows the validation in December of the same product’s efficacy finding Salmonella spp. in egg, meat and dairy products.

To obtain NF VALIDATION certification, the test kit went through a comprehensive scientific review process. The assay was tested by an expert independent laboratory against EN ISO 6579, the worldwide standard for detecting Salmonella spp. Next, collaborative studies were conducted by 18 other laboratories from seven different countries to ensure the test method could be effectively reproduced and repeated.

Now used in at least 33 countries, the 3M system was introduced to food processors, third-party reference laboratories and other customers in December 2011 along with 3M Molecular Detection Assays for E. coli (O157 including H7), Listeria and Salmonella. Leveraging isothermal DNA amplification and bioluminescence detection technologies, it simultaneously pinpoints and amplifies nucleic acid in enriched food and food process samples.

For more information, visit www.3M.com/3MMolecularDetectionSystem/SALAFNOR2