3M Food Safety announced today that its new 3M™ Molecular Detection Assay -- Salmonella has received AOAC-PTM Certification (#031208) from the AOAC Research Institute's Performance Tested Methods Program.
The 3M Molecular Detection System was first introduced in December 2011 as an innovative combination of two technologies -- isothermal DNA amplification and bioluminescence detection -- that offers a reliable and rapid qualitative method of pathogen detection in enriched food, feed and food process environmental samples. The AOAC-PTM certification validates 3M's unique, molecular approach as equivalent to or better than standard FDA and USDA reference methods for the detection of Salmonella. It is projected that there are as many as 2 to 4 million cases of salmonellosis every year in the U.S.
The AOAC Research Institute bases certification of methods on independent study results demonstrating that a given method meets the claims expressed in package inserts. For the 3M Molecular Detection Assay - Salmonella method PTM study, artificially contaminated samples were enriched and evaluated by the 3M Molecular Detection System as well as the appropriate FDA or USDA FSIS reference methods. These samples included evaluation of meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, produce and pet foods. No statistically significant differences in sample results were observed between the 3M Molecular Detection Assay - Salmonella and these reference methods.
"This method validation is an important milestone, constituting the first of what we believe will be many confirmations of a robust and capable technology," said DeAnn Benesh, regulatory affairs specialist with 3M Food Safety. "Evaluation of Salmonella, and other pathogens using this technology, continues to be very promising, underscoring how the 3M Molecular Detection System's simple, streamlined method provides accurate results."
3M Food Safety is pursuing additional global method validations for the 3M Molecular Detection Assay -- Salmonella to present to the marketplace. The company developed the 3M Molecular Detection System and its test kits with the needs of its worldwide food processing clientele in mind, involving them early on in the design process. Ultimately, a small but powerful technology was produced, capable of targeting and amplifying nucleic acid in enriched samples with great success.