March 22, 2007

FDA comes up with quick test for salmonella and other food pathogens

A quick and inexpensive test for bacterial contamination has been developed by the US FDA.

The Rapid-B test could detect salmonella and listeria in food and later versions would be able to find antibiotic-resistant pathogens in hospitals.

The test, which gives the results in 15 minutes compared to the current tests that take 2-3 days.

It would be commercialised and marketed by technology development company Litmus, coming from the FDA's National Centre for Toxicological Research in Arkansas.

It is also currently being evaluated by Simmons Foods, a US poultry processing company.

Salmonella causes most of the 160,000 cases of food-borne gastro enteritis in the EU annually.