Assessing sensitivity of rapid detection methods for Listeria monocytogenes in seafood and environmental samples

摘要

Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous bacterium that causes listeriosis. This condition is manifested as gastroenteritis, which can develop into meningitis or septicemia in high-risk individuals. The New Zealand Food Safety Authority requires Listeria to be absent in 25 g samples of ready-to-eat products. Seafoods are regularly tested for compliance along with environmental swabs from processing facilities to identify sites harbouring Listeria and signal potential product contamination. The current industry standard for detecting L. monocytogenes is the US Food and Drug Administration "Bacteriological Analytical Manual" (BAM), which takes 96 h to provide results. 'Rapid' methods that give results in 24-48 h are also available.