Advanced Methods for Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

Abstract

The detection of bacterial and viral foodborne pathogens has been in practice for many decades to assure the safety and cleanliness of human food. During this long and storied history of food safety, the most traditional methods for detection have been employed with great success, consisting of bacterial and viral culture of the food sample using microbiological media and biochemical identification of bacterial genera or cell culture techniques. The current method accepted by the Food and Drug Administration for detection of bacteria, viruses, yeast and mold is FDA’s Bacterial Analytical Manual (BAM) method [1]. These fundamental microbiological assays remain the cornerstone of most pathogen detection schemes, in spite of the fact that traditional culture methods are slow and labor intensive. In a bacterial foodborne disease outbreak, a minimum of 5–7 days are required to obtain an identified isolated colony, which delays the proper diagnosis and treatment regime, resulting in longer hospital stays [2]. Therefore, a significant demand for the rapid detection of pathogens in minutes, rather than days, has arisen. Alternate molecular methods have been developed to attempt reduce or eliminate this rate limiting step and provide identification and characterization information to public health officials in the event of a foodborne disease outbreak. A partial list of some rapid methods and alternative molecular methods are listed in the FDA BAM in Appendix I, although these are not methods officially used or endorsed by the FDA [1].