Researchers Develop Method to Speed Up Salmonella Detection in Shell Eggs
Researchers from the Singapore Food Agency’s National Center for Food Science and the National University of Singapore have developed a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach for the detection of viable Salmonella Enteritidis contamination in shell eggs, which would accelerate the traditional Salmonellatesting process if integrated.
S. Enteritidis is one of the most prevalent serovars responsible for foodborne salmonellosis worldwide, and shell eggs are a common vehicle of infection. While testing for viable S. Enteritidis in shell eggs is essential for early alerts and ensuring unsafe food does not enter the market, the typical “gold standard” culture-based testing methods requires many time-consuming steps and personnel with specialized technical skills. A cultured-based system that provided live isolates would typically require five to seven days for S. Enteritidis confirmation, and there have been reports of false-positive Salmonella detected via biochemical testing of colony isolates on non-Salmonella bacteria that share biochemical similarities with Salmonella.