DNA-based methods for detection of food-borne bacterial pathogens

Abstract

Food-borne diseases are mainly caused by pathogenic bacteria, which are transmitted to humans from the animal reservoir via food or which contaminates the food on the processing line. Detection of the pathogenic bacteria constitutes a challenge, as the bacteria are often present in low numbers, masked by the food matrix and outnumbered by high numbers of indigenous bacteria. Traditional detection methods, therefore, include enrichment and often pre-enrichment steps, which are time and labour consuming. Many different techniques have been developed to speed up detection of pathogenic bacteria and to increase the sensitivity of the detection. In the current paper, the state of the art for DNA-based detection methods are reviewed with a view to their limitations in relation to food microbiology.