CERTUS™ to Bring In-House Salmonella Testing to Food Processing Plants

CERTUS™, innovators in food safety technologies, announced the expansion of its rapid food pathogen detection menu with the initiation of research and development of an Environmental Salmonella assay. To address a pathogen which, according to the CDC causes more than one million food-borne illnesses in the United States annually, the new CERTUS Salmonella test will use the same proprietary Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) technology and instrument platform as the company’s CERTUS EL test for Listeria, which is due to launch in early 2018. End-use benefits will similarly include extremely simple workflow, on-site testing capabilities, real-time growth monitoring, immediate alerts upon detection and bio-containment for the safety of the food processor and consumer. As with the CERTUS Listeria assay, the Salmonella test will be, “All-in one, all in-house.”

“CERTUS remains committed to developing tools to help food producers protect consumers from the world’s most dangerous pathogens,” says CERTUS President, John Coomes. “Salmonella continues to plague the food industry in large numbers, so we’re excited to develop an in-house solution for small and mid-sized food processing plants and address a true need in the market. Our customers will realize greater value with the CERTUS system now that they will be able to run both environmental Listeria and Salmonella in the same instrument.”

As with the CERTUS EL test, the CERTUS Salmonella assay is being designed to run in a single enrichment media, homogeneous no wash format. This means that no sample manipulation is required and that the assay tube never has to be opened once the sampling swab is inserted. The assay will be delivered in a Bio-Lock™ tube/cap design that cannot be opened after enrichment begins thus securing the environment from accidental contamination. This feature, combined with the target time-to-result goal of less than 24 hours, enables food producers to move testing on-site for significantly faster results.

Reagent research and development is being conducted in collaboration with CERTUS research partner, Solus Scientific, a UK-based food pathogen assay developer. Solus Scientific is the developer and manufacturer of their own Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli ELISA designed for large volume sample processing. Solus is also the assay development partner for the CERTUS EL assay used in the CERTUS System which is currently seeking AOAC validation.