EVALUATION OF THE VITEK IMMUNODIAGNOSTIC ASSAY SYSTEM (VIDAS) FOR THE DETECTION OF SALMONELLA IN FOODS

A Salmonella Assay using the Vitek Immunodiagnostic Assay System (VIDAS) was compared with a conventional cultural method (CCM) for the detection of salmonellas in 141 samples of artificially and naturally contaminated foods. There was an overall agreement of 92.9% between the methods. The productivity of the VIDAS Salmonella Assay (VSA) was not improved using an alternative enrichment protocol for the detection of Salmonella in 12 raw meat samples. The sensitivity and specificity of the VSA was assessed using pure cultures of salmonellas and non-salmonellas. The detection limit was 1.8 x 10(6) salmonellas ml(-1) in M-broth and some Citrobacter freundii strains gave false-positive results. Using an immunomagnetic separation (IMS) technique and an abbreviated cultural enrichment, the VSA results could be obtained a day earlier than the standard VSA method.