Rapid radiometric method for detection of Salmonella in foods

Abstract

A radiometric method for the detection of Salmonella in foods was developed which is based on Salmonella poly H agglutinating serum preventing Salmonella from producing 14CO2 from [14C]dulcitol. The method will detect the presence or absence of Salmonella in a product within 30 h compared to 4-5 days by routine culture methods. The method was evaluated against a routine culture method using 58 samples of food. The overall agreement was 91%. Five samples negative for Salmonella by the routine method were positive by the radiometric method. These were probably false-positives. The routine method may have failed to detect Salmonella due to the presence of large numbers of lactose-fermenting bacteria which hindered isolation of Salmonella colonies on the selective agar plates.