Thermo Scientific RapidFinder Salmonella species, Typhimurium and Enteritidis Multiplex Flex Kit

To date, Salmonella testing has involved confirming the presence of the bacteria, then carrying out further tests to identify the serotype before taking the relevant corrective action. This is often a time-consuming journey that delays workflows, impacts timelines and introduces risk into the food chain. Food producers are therefore looking for laboratories that can provide a targeted, streamlined approach.

The Thermo Scientific RapidFinder Salmonella species, Typhimurium and Enteritidis Multiplex Flex Kit workflow is said to be the only validated, certified system that can identify Salmonella species as well as differentiate between the serovars Enteritidis and Typhimurium, and it can return next-day results. It has been designed to streamline the testing workflow and to reduce the wait time from testing to intervention or product release. Compared with running separate PCR tests, the workflow is claimed to reduce the cost of consumable goods by up to 50%, lowering labour costs and increasing confidence in food safety.

The system is internationally validated for detecting the three targets in primary production samples: ground turkey, pork and poultry meat; shell eggs; and production environment samples. It offers in-house and contract testing laboratories the ability to detect and identify the Salmonella species Typhimurium and Enteritidis in <16 h; a simple sample preparation step that provides scalability to high-throughput and sample volumes; and the use of Applied Biosystems TaqMan-based qPCR technology for sensitivity and specificity.