[Rapid detection of motile Salmonella in chicken meat by the 1-2 Test]

The 1-2 Test (BioControl) is an enrichment culture/immuno-diffusion assay for detecting Salmonella in foods by use of poly-H-antibodies. The performance of the 1-2 Test was compared with that of the traditional culture method on 85 chicken meat samples. The results were as follows: The detection frequency of Salmonella by the 1-2 Test 24-hour assay (28/85, 32.9%) was greater than that by the 8-hour assay (16/85, 18.8%) and almost equal to that by the traditional method (26/85, 30.6%). The 8-hour assay gave a 46.2% sensitivity and 93.2% specificity. The 24-hour assay gave an 84.6% sensitivity and 89.8% specificity. Detection appeared to show some influence from the number of Salmonella, number of viable cells (SPC) and coliform groups. Differences in serotypes of Salmonella detected by the 1-2 Test and the traditional methods were also observed. Although there were some differing results between the 1-2 Test and the traditional method, this system appears to be useful for detecting Salmonella in foods, since results can be obtained at least 24 hours earlier than by the conventional procedures.