New E. Coli Test Announced, Certfied

(USDA Agricultural Research Service/Wikimedia Commons)

The biotech company Life Technologies in Carlsbad, California unveiled a new, faster test for E. coli bacteria at the International Association for Food Protection annual meeting now in progress. This particular assay detects the E. coli O157:H7 strain known for causing serious diseases in humans.

E. coli O157:H7, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a normally food-borne pathogen, blamed for many of the recent food-poisoning incidents in the U.S., with an estimated 70,000 infections each year. Symptoms often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, and occasionally fever.

The Life Technologies test for E. coli O157:H7 uses polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods based on DNA technology. The company says its MicroSEQ detection assay for E. coli O157:H7 can run in as little as eight hours, while traditional culture-based tests can take days to provide results.

Also at the International Association for Food Protection meeting, Life Technologies said the AOAC Research Institute, an industry testing service, granted the MicroSEQ test for E. coli O157:H7 its Performance Tested Methods certification, which validates the test’s methods.