Nonculture diagnostic tests for foodborne pathogens, which are becoming more popular and determined nearly 15% of foodborne pathogen outbreaks in 2010, have advantages and disadvantages compared with traditional culture tests. The new nonculture tests, developed by firms such as Abbott Laboratories, BD, Cepheid and Luminex, can detect bacteria that culture tests cannot, such as the entire class of bacteria that generate the Shiga toxin. The tests are quicker, often less costly and require less training to conduct. But unlike culture tests, nonculture tests do not provide a bacteria sample to determine the source of contamination. Samples from culture tests can be submitted to the PulseNet system to determine if they match data from other samples in order to help track contamination sources. Each year, 48 million Americans become ill and 3,000 die from illnesses from foodborne pathogens. Earlier this month, the US Department of Agriculture announced it will end its Microbiological Data Program for testing produce for pathogens this year.

Source: Scientific American