bioMerieux have announced that VIDAS® Listeria Xpress (LSX), an automated test for the fast detection of Listeria species, has been granted Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) approval by AOAC INTERNATIONAL on a wide variety of food products.

This added level of certification assures VIDAS LSX users that the test meets stringent AOAC standards for excellence in pathogen detection.

As part of the VIDAS Next Day range, VIDAS LSX has previously received AOAC-RI (Research Institute) validation for food production environmental samples, and is certified by AFNOR Validation according to the ISO 16140 standard.

bioMerieux's expertise in both immunoassays and microbiology resulted in the creation of a high performance solution to detect Listeria species in less than 30 hours, faster than most of the other automated methods. For this test, bioMerieux developed a specific enrichment broth (LX broth) to boost the growth of Listeria species.

'bioMerieux is committed to helping customers ensure food safety worldwide,' said Alexandre Merieux, Corporate Vice President, Industrial Microbiology. 'This official approval is a result of our investment in the VIDAS range to provide the food industry with high performance testing solutions.'