Molecular detection of foodborne pathogens with emphasis on multiplex-allele-specific PCR, computational primer...

Foodborne diseases continue to be major public health challenges around the world, with contaminated food linked to an estimated 420,000 deaths annually, many of which are children under five. Traditional testing methods for foodborne pathogens (i.e., microbial culturing and biochemical assays), while generally reliable, are slow and labor-intensive and significantly limit their ability to protect the public from exposure to foodborne pathogens. Reflecting on these limitations, a growing number of methods using rapid detection approaches, which are more efficient for detecting foodborne pathogens, have been developed, including nucleic acid-based methods, immunological methods, and biosensor-based methods. In particular, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) offers a good method for the rapid detection of multiple pathogens in food samples. This review highlighted both the progress and prospects of multiplex-allele-specific PCR (MAS-PCR) technology and its use to detect and genotype foodborne pathogens in food samples. Also, the MAS-PCR used with probe-based methods has the possibility of being more specific and sensitive than the single PCR assay alone. The subsequent new approaches are designed to minimize the time it takes to identify pathogens to improve food safety and avoid disease outbreaks. Ultimately, advanced technologies would demonstrate increased speed and accuracy of pathogen detection, creating a greater contribution towards global food safety and public health.