TECHNICAL EVALUATION OF AN AUTOMATED ANALYZER FOR THE DETECTION OF SALMONELLA-ENTERICA IN FRESH MEAT-PRODUCTS

A rapid ELISA-based method for the detection of Salmonella in food, th e 'EiaFoss Salmonella Method: was compared with a conventional procedu re based on Modified Semisolid Rappaport-Vassiliadis medium (MSRV). Tw o hundred and sixteen raw meat products were tested using both methods . The number of positive samples obtained by the EiaFoss method (63; 2 9.2%) showed no statistically significant difference to that obtained by the MSRV method (69; 31.9%). The sensitivity and specificity of the EiaFoss ELISA test were also determined with 135 samples by taking th e MSRV method as a reference method. Obtained values were sensitivity = 95.3% and specificity = 100%. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.