iQ-Check Salmonella II: real-time polymerase chain reaction test kit. Performance Tested Method 010803

iQ-Check Salmonella II is a real-time PCR kit for detection of Salmonella in foods. Specific oligonucleotide probes are used to detect target DNA during the amplification, by hybridizing to the amplicons. These probes are linked to a fluorophore, which fluoresces only when hybridized to the target sequence. As part of an Emergency Response Validation due to a massive outbreak and subsequent recall, peanut butter was tested to compare the performance of iQ-Check Salmonella II to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual (FDA-BAM) reference method for detection of Salmonella. A single enrichment in buffered peptone water was used for a reduced enrichment time of 21 +/- 1 h over the 48 h reference method. There was no significant difference in the performance of the iQ-Check kit when compared to the FDA-BAM method, as determined by Chi-square analysis. All samples identified as positive by iQ-Check were confirmed by reference method protocol.