Detection of viable and VBNC Salmonella in retail meat using optimized PMAxx real-time PCR

The Quick Summary

Food can sometimes have bad germs called Salmonella that make people sick. It’s really important to find these living Salmonella germs quickly in our food. Scientists are using a new method with a special dye called PMAxx. This dye helps them count only the Salmonella that are alive and can still cause sickness, not the dead ones. The study improved this method to be even better at finding Salmonella in meat. This helps make sure that the meat we buy is safe to eat and keeps us healthy.

Practical Implications

Current food safety testing methods sometimes detect DNA from both living and dead bacteria, which can lead to overestimation of microbial risk. This optimized PMAxx real-time PCR method specifically targets viable Salmonella cells, providing a more accurate assessment of potential food safety hazards. For the food industry, this means more reliable and actionable data, enabling faster and more targeted interventions for contaminated products. It helps reduce false positives, saving resources and preventing unnecessary product recalls, while simultaneously enhancing consumer protection by focusing on truly pathogenic threats. This advancement offers a more precise tool for effective food safety management and risk assessment.

Potential Use in Indonesia

In Indonesia, where traditional markets and street food vendors are prevalent and often operate in tropical climates, this method could significantly improve the detection of viable Salmonella in meat. It would allow for quicker and more accurate risk assessment in local supply chains, where refrigeration can be inconsistent. This helps ensure safer food for consumers, especially given the challenges of maintaining hygiene in diverse food environments.

Original Abstract

Food contaminated with Salmonella remains a major cause of foodborne illness worldwide, posing a significant public health concern. Rapid detection of viable Salmonella in food is essential for effective food safety management. Viability PCR (vPCR) techniques using photo-reactive dyes such as PMA (Propidium monoazide) or PMAxx have emerged as promising approaches to suppress DNA amplification from membrane-compromised (dead) cells. However, most previous PMA-qPCR studies have mainly evaluated……

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