Food Safety/Quality

While pathogen testing methods vary widely, there are several common approaches to preparing samples for a pathogen detection assay. The goal in all cases is to liberate the pathogen from the food matrix for either downstream detection or culture.

Sample homogenization with a rotor-stator device has been demonstrated effective for disrupting food products while maintaining pathogens intact for cell culture. Alternatively, an additional lysis step can be performed to liberate pathogen nucleic acids for RT-PCR or 8PCR detection.

Food production is a truly global industry. The modern grocery store contains food products grown, packaged and tested in nearly every country. With such a vast production network, consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with the safety of their food.