EVALUATION OF A NEW DIPSTICK TEST FOR THE RAPID DETECTION OF SALMONELLA IN FOOD

A new commercial dip-stick method (PATH-STIK) for the rapid detection of Salmonella was evaluated. The test is based on immunochromatographi c technology, known from simple clinical diagnostics like the human ch orionic gonadotropin (HCG) pregnancy tests. Results can be obtained 10 min after completion of the Salmonella enrichment procedure. In total , 94 samples of various origin were screened in this study. The sample s used were suspected to be naturally contaminated with Salmonella, th us reflecting the most realistic situation. The new dip-stick method w as compared to the ISO 6579 (1990) reference method for the detection of Salmonella in food and feed. Overall specificity of the dip-stick t est in comparison with the ISO method was 96.4%; the overall sensitivi ty in this study was 93.0%. For products with a low water activity, sp ecificity and sensitivity were 97.7 and 88.2% respectively. Products w ith a high water activity resulted in a specificity of 92.3% and a sen sitivity of 96.2%. Since the enrichment procedure for the dip-stick te st is based on the official ISO method, this user-friendly method can be used as a rapid screening tool for the detection of Salmonella in f ood or feed samples.