Rapid detection of Salmonella in pet food: design and evaluation of integrated methods based on real-time PCR detection

Use of Organic Acid Mixtures Containing 2-Hydroxy-4-(Methylthio) Butanoic Acid (HMTBa) to Mitigate Salmonella enterica, Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Aspergillus flavus in Pet Food Kibbles

Post-processing operations of extruded pet food kibbles involve coating the product with fats and flavorings. These processes increase the risk for cross-contamination with food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and mycotoxin-producing molds such as Aspergillus spp. after the thermal kill step. In this study, the antimicrobial effects of two types of organic acid mixtures containing 2-hydroxy-4-(methylthio) butanoic acid (HMTBa), Activate DA™ and Activate US WD-MAX™, against Salmonella enterica, STEC and Aspergillus flavus when used as a coating on pet food kibbles were evaluated. Using canola oil and dry dog digest as fat and flavor coatings, the efficacy of Activate DA (HMTBa + fumaric acid + benzoic acid) at 0%, 1% and 2%, and Activate US WD-MAX (HMTBa + lactic acid + phosphoric acid) at 0%, 0.5% and 1% was tested on kibbles inoculated with a cocktail of S. enterica serovars (Enteritidis, Heidelberg and Typhimurium) or Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serovars (O121, and O26) at 37 °C for 0, 12, 24, 48, 72 h, 30 and 60 days. Similarly, their efficacy was tested against A. flavus at 25 °C for 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 days. Activate DA at 2% and Activate US WD-MAX at 1% reduced Salmonella counts by ~3 logs after 12 h and 4-4.6 logs after 24 h. Similarly, STEC counts were reduced by ~2 logs and 3 logs after 12 h and 24 h, respectively. Levels of A. flavus did not vary up to 7 days, and afterwards started to decline by >2 logs in 14 days, and up to 3.8-log reduction in 28 days for Activate DA and Activate US WD-MAX at 2% and 1%, respectively. The results suggest that the use of these organic acid mixtures containing HMTBa during kibble coating may mitigate post-processing enteric pathogen and mold contamination in pet food kibbles, with Activate US WD-MAX being effective at a lower concentration (0.5-1%) compared to Activate DA.

Quantitative LAMP and PCR Detection of Salmonella in Chicken Samples Collected from Local Markets around Pathum Thani Province, Thailand

Salmonella is a bacterium that infects people when they consume contaminated food or liquids. To prevent humans from becoming ill, it is useful to have an efficient method of detecting Salmonella before the disease is passed on through the food chain. In this research, the efficiency of Salmonella detection was compared using the following four methods: conventional loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), PCR, quantitative LAMP (qLAMP), and qPCR. The artificial infection of chicken samples started with incubating of 10 mL of 10⁸ CFU of S. typhimurium for 6 hr. and enriching for 2 hr. to represent real contamination of the samples. The results show that the sensitivity of Salmonella DNA detection in PCR, qPCR, LAMP, and qLAMP were 50 ng, 5 ng, 50 pg, and and 500 fg, respectively. Thirty samples of 10 g chicken were collected from 10 markets in Pathum Thani, Thailand; then, the infection was detected. The conventional LAMP, qLAMP, and qPCR methods detected Salmonella in all the chicken samples. However, the conventional PCR method detected Salmonella infection in only eight of the samples. Overall, the qLAMP method had the highest sensitivity of Salmonella DNA detection.

Lateral flow fluorescent immunoassay based on isothermal amplification for rapid quantitative detection of Salmonella spp

Salmonella spp. are zoonotic pathogens of substantial public health concern. To enable detection in the field or under instrument-free conditions, we developed a rapid and robust lateral flow fluorescent immunoassay based on strand exchange amplification (SEA-LFIA) for the quantitative detection of Salmonella spp. As far as we know, this work is the first report regarding the use of Bst DNA polymerase-assisted SEA for fluorescence sensing to detect Salmonella spp. The SEA method was further confirmed by enzymatic digestion and Sanger dideoxy sequencing. The specificity of SEA-LFIA assay was verified by 89 Salmonella strains (18 Salmonella reference strains and 71 clinical isolates) and 15 non-Salmonella reference strains (different genera). The sensitivity of SEA-LFIA assay was 6 × 10⁰ CFU mL^-1 of Salmonella pure culture or 3 × 10⁴ CFU 25 g^-1 of artificially spiked raw chicken meat. Using this assay, it was found that 37 (16%) of the 236 samples collected were positive, which was consistent with the results of conventional PCR. The cutoff value is 15 and SEA-LFIA assay only takes ∼30 min without high equipment and reagent cost. In addition, the proposed strategy can be easily extended by redesigning the corresponding amplification primers to detect target analytes. In conclusion, the optimized SEA-LFIA assay is an efficient and specific method for the detection of Salmonella spp., and can potentially serve as a new on-site diagnostic tool in life sciences.

Multi-Laboratory Validation of a Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Method for Screening Salmonella in Animal Food

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has gained wide popularity in the detection of Salmonella in foods owing to its simplicity, rapidity, and robustness. This multi-laboratory validation (MLV) study aimed to validate a Salmonella LAMP-based method against the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) Chapter 5 Salmonella reference method in a representative animal food matrix (dry dog food). Fourteen independent collaborators from seven laboratories in the United States and Canada participated in the study. Each collaborator received two sets of 24 blind-coded dry dog food samples (eight uninoculated; eight inoculated at a low level, 0.65 MPN/25 g; and eight inoculated at a high level, 3.01 MPN/25 g) and initiated the testing on the same day. The MLV study used an unpaired design where different test portions were analyzed by the LAMP and BAM methods using different preenrichment protocols (buffered peptone water for LAMP and lactose broth for BAM). All LAMP samples were confirmed by culture using the BAM method. BAM samples were also tested by LAMP following lactose broth preenrichment (paired samples). Statistical analysis was carried out by the probability of detection (POD) per AOAC guidelines and by a random intercept logistic regression model. Overall, no significant differences in POD between the Salmonella LAMP and BAM methods were observed with either unpaired or paired samples, indicating the methods were comparable. LAMP testing following preenrichment in buffered peptone water or lactose broth also resulted in insignificant POD differences (P > 0.05). The MLV study strongly supports the utility and applicability of this rapid and reliable LAMP method in routine regulatory screening of Salmonella in animal food.

Validation of a Salmonella loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay in animal food

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has emerged as a promising alternative to PCR for pathogen detection in food testing and clinical diagnostics. This study aimed to validate a Salmonella LAMP method run on both turbidimetry (LAMP I) and fluorescence (LAMP II) platforms in representative animal food commodities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s culture-based Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) method was used as the reference method and a real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay was also performed. The method comparison study followed the FDA's microbiological methods validation guidelines, which align well with those from the AOAC International and ISO. Both LAMP assays were 100% specific among 300 strains (247 Salmonella of 185 serovars and 53 non-Salmonella) tested. The detection limits ranged from 1.3 to 28 cells for six Salmonella strains of various serovars. Six commodities consisting of four animal feed items (cattle feed, chicken feed, horse feed, and swine feed) and two pet food items (dry cat food and dry dog food) all yielded satisfactory results. Compared to the BAM method, the relative levels of detection (RLODs) for LAMP I ranged from 0.317 to 1 with a combined value of 0.610, while those for LAMP II ranged from 0.394 to 1.152 with a combined value of 0.783, which all fell within the acceptability limit (2.5) for an unpaired study. This also suggests that LAMP was more sensitive than the BAM method at detecting low-level Salmonella contamination in animal food and results were available 3days sooner. The performance of LAMP on both platforms was comparable to that of qPCR but notably faster, particularly LAMP II. Given the importance of Salmonella in animal food safety, the LAMP assays validated in this study holds great promise as a rapid, reliable, and robust method for routine screening of Salmonella in these commodities.

Rapid detection of Salmonella in food and feed by coupling loop-mediated isothermal amplification with bioluminescent assay in real-time

Background

Salmonella is among the most significant pathogens causing food and feed safety concerns. This study examined the rapid detection of Salmonella in various types of food and feed samples by coupling loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) with a novel reporter, bioluminescent assay in real-time (BART). Performance of the LAMP-BART assay was compared to a conventional LAMP and the commercially available 3M Molecular Detection Assay (MDA) Salmonella.

Results

The LAMP-BART assay was 100 % specific among 178 strains (151 Salmonella and 27 non-Salmonella) tested. The detection limits were 36 cells per reaction in pure culture and 10⁴ to 10⁶ CFU per 25 g in spiked food and feed samples without enrichment, which were comparable to those of the conventional LAMP and 3M MDA Salmonella but 5–10 min faster. Ground turkey showed a strong inhibition on 3M MDA Salmonella, requiring at least 10⁸ CFU per 25 g for detection. The correlation between Salmonella cell numbers and LAMP-BART signals was high (R² = 0.941–0.962), suggesting good quantification capability. After 24 h enrichment, all three assays accurately detected 1 to 3 CFU per 25 g of Salmonella among five types of food (cantaloupe, ground beef, ground turkey, shell eggs, and tomato) and three types of feed (cattle feed, chicken feed, and dry dog food) examined. However, 10¹ CFU per 25 g was required for cattle feed when tested by 3M MDA Salmonella.

Conclusions

The Salmonella LAMP-BART assay was rapid, specific, sensitive, quantitative, and robust. Upon further validation, it may become a valuable tool for routine screening of Salmonella in various types of food and feed samples.

Bacteriophage cocktail for biocontrol of Salmonella in dried pet food

Human salmonellosis has been associated with contaminated pet foods and treats. Therefore, there is interest in identifying novel approaches for reducing the risk of Salmonella contamination within pet food manufacturing environments. The use of lytic bacteriophages shows promise as a safe and effective way to mitigate Salmonella contamination in various food products. Bacteriophages are safe, natural, highly targeted antibacterial agents that specifically kill bacteria and can be targeted to kill food pathogens without affecting other microbiota. In this study, we show that a cocktail containing six bacteriophages had a broadspectrum activity in vitro against a library of 930 Salmonella enterica strains representing 44 known serovars. The cocktail was effective against 95% of the strains in this tested library. In liquid culture dose-ranging experiments, bacteriophage cocktail concentrations of ≥10(8) PFU/ml inactivated more than 90% of the Salmonella population (10(1) to 10(3) CFU/ml). Dried pet food inoculated with a mixture containing equal proportions of Salmonella serovars Enteritidis (ATCC 4931), Montevideo (ATCC 8387), Senftenberg (ATCC 8400), and Typhimurium (ATCC 13311) and then surface treated with the six-bacteriophage cocktail (≥2.5 ± 1.5 × 10(6) PFU/g) achieved a greater than 1-log (P < 0.001) reduction compared with the phosphate-buffered saline-treated control in measured viable Salmonella within 60 min. Moreover, this bacteriophage cocktail reduced natural contamination in samples taken from an undistributed lot of commercial dried dog food that tested positive for Salmonella. Our results indicate that bacteriophage biocontrol of S. enterica in dried pet food is technically feasible.

Comparison of a novel strategy for the detection and isolation of Salmonella in shell eggs with the Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual method

The current FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) method for the detection of Salmonella in eggs requires 2 wk to complete. The objective of this project was to improve the BAM method for the detection and isolation of Salmonella in whole shell eggs. A novel protocol, using 1,000 g of liquid eggs for direct preenrichment with 2 L of tryptic soy broth (TSB) followed by enrichment using Rappaport-Vassiliadis and Tetrathionate broths, was compared with the standard BAM method, which requires 96 h room temperature incubation of whole shell egg samples followed by preenrichment in TSB supplemented with FeSO4. Four Salmonella ser. Enteritidis (4 phage types) and one Salmonella ser. Heidelberg isolates were used in the study. Bulk inoculated pooled liquid eggs, weighing 52 or 56 kg (approximately 1,100 eggs) were used in each trial. Twenty 1,000-g test portions were withdrawn from the pooled eggs for both the alternative and the reference methods. Test portions were inoculated with Salmonella at 1 to 5 cfu/1,000 g eggs. Two replicates were performed for each isolate. In the 8 trials conducted with Salmonella ser. Enteritidis, the alternative method was significantly (P < 0.05) more productive than the reference method in 3 trials, and significantly (P < 0.05) less productive than the reference method in 1 trial. There were no significant (P < 0.05) differences between the 2 methods for the other 4 trials. For Salmonella ser. Heidelberg, combined data from 2 trials showed the alternative method was significantly (P < 0.05) more efficient than the BAM method. We have concluded that the alternative method, described herein, has the potential to replace the current BAM culture method for detection and isolation of Salmonella from shell eggs based on the following factors: 1) the alternative method is 4 d shorter than the reference method; 2) it uses regular TSB instead of the more complicated TSB supplemented with FeSO4; and 3) it was equivalent or superior to the reference method in 9 out of 10 trials for the detection of Salmonella in shell eggs.