Pall said last week that its GeneDisc assays for Listeria have received performance tested methods certification from the AOAC Research Institute.
Pall's PCR-based GeneDisc technology enables multiparametric assays for food-borne pathogen detection within one hour, while routine biochemical tests typically take 24 hours, Pall said.
During the AOAC Research Institute validation, Pall GeneDisc assays for Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes, as well as the combined assay, Listeria DUO, received AOAC-PTM certification for a variety of foods and environmental surfaces.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports around 1,600 US cases of listeriosis annually. Caused by L. monocytogenes, a widely spread bacterial foodborne pathogen, listeriosis can cause severe illness and even death. US regulatory agencies have a zero-tolerance policy for L. monocytogenes contamination of ready-to-eat food products, requesting recall of such products at any detectable level of the bacteria.