Invisible Sentinel Inc., a life-sciences company that develops rapid diagnostics for the detection of foodborne pathogens, announced today that its first-in-class rapid diagnostic for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes received certification from the Association of Analytical Communities (AOAC).
The assay has been approved for use in detecting bacterial contamination by L. monocytogenes in various food types, including ready-to-eat foods, deli meat, and dairy products, and on various surfaces with which food is in contact during preparation and packaging.
The AOAC is a global standardization organization that validates analytical test methods for the food industry. The AOAC Performance Tested Methods(SM) designation is recognized by the US Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and global regulatory agencies.
"This approval demonstrates our progress in expanding the Veriflow™ product line to detect a growing list of foodborne pathogens," said Ben Pascal, co-founder of Invisible Sentinel. "Like other diagnostics in the Veriflow™ system, Veriflow™ Listeria monocytogenes (Veriflow™ LM) features accessibility and simplicity not typically associated with other molecular technologies."
The first approval by the AOAC of such a hand-held diagnostic came last October, when the organization certified Veriflow™ Campylobacter Assay (Veriflow™ CA) to detect the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in poultry.
Currently in the AOAC review process for certification are additional Veriflow™ assays to detect pan-Listeria species, pan-Salmonella species, and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC).
"We intend to provide a complete suite of pathogen-detection solutions to the food industry by the fourth quarter of 2013," said Nick Siciliano, co-founder of Invisible Sentinel.
Listeria monocytogenes is a potentially deadly foodborne bacterial pathogen. Listeria can be found in soil and water, and animals can carry the bacteria without appearing ill. Infection typically causes gastrointestinal symptoms, fever, and muscle aches. An "invasive" infection can cause miscarriage and death. Among multistate outbreaks in recent years were one in 2011 linked to contaminated cantaloupes (143 cases, 1 miscarriage, and 33 deaths) and another in 2012 linked to contaminated ricotta cheese (22 cases, 1 miscarriage, and 2 deaths).
Veriflow™ Listeria monocytogenes (Veriflow™ LM) is available directly from Invisible Sentinel.