Application of Radioimmunoassay for Detection of Staphylococcal Enterotoxins in Foods

The staphylococcal enterotoxins can be iodinated with chloramine-T, lactoperoxidase or gaseous iodine. Low concentrations of enterotoxin, chloramine-T and ¹²⁵I are recommended to avoid possible damage to the enterotoxin. The antigen-antibody complex can be separated from the unreacted enterotoxin by antibodies adsorbed onto tubes or bromoacetyl-cellulose or by precipitation of the complex with a second antibody or protein A cells. As little as 1 ng of enterotoxin per gram of food can be detected in food extracts with the solid-phase tube method or by precipitation of the antigen-antibody complex with protein A cells.