Emergence of rapid methods for identifying microbial pathogens in foods

Because of the complexities of food analysis, conventional microbiological methods must use time-consuming enrichment steps for culturing viable bacterial cells in foods. With rapid advancements in technology, however, numerous so-called rapid methods were introduced into the field of food microbiology in a relatively short time. Culture methods that were once used to obtain profiles for bacterial identification were simplified or automated. Many microbiological procedures were also streamlined or automated to reduce assay time, labor, and materials. Nucleic acid-based assays are used to identify gene sequences in foodborne bacteria, and antibody-based assays are used in numerous formats to detect bacterial pathogens and toxins in foods. The difficulties of analyzing food, however, remain challenging, and rapid methods need to be evaluated thoroughly before they are used for routine food analysis.