3M Food Safety has announced that it received AOAC-PTM Certification for the 3M™ Molecular Detection Assay Listeria for Environmental Testing (#081203) from the AOAC Research Institute's Performance Tested Methods^SM Program. About 1,600 cases of listeriosis are reported annually in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with some resulting in casualties. A 2011 outbreak linked to cantaloupe infected 147 individuals and was responsible for 33 reported deaths.

Using two unique, innovative technologies - isothermal DNA amplification and bioluminescence detection, the 3M™ Molecular Detection System is a fundamentally different pathogen detection method. Its development was based on customers' expressed needs for a pathogen detection solution that is faster, simpler and delivers more accurate results. This validation confirms the assay's ability to monitor the facilities of today's food processors and follows earlier validations of assays for Salmonella and E. coli O157 (including H7). 3M also offers this 3M Molecular Detection Assay Listeria for the testing of food matrices including produce, meat, seafood, poultry and dairy. Use of this assay for the evaluation of food, is in process as a matrix extension to this current AOAC-PTM.

"Clients value the thorough process used to validate the assays for Salmonella, E. coli O157 (including H7) and Listeria," said Niki Montgomery, global marketing manager with 3M Food Safety. "Recent outbreaks and recalls due to possible Listeria contamination further highlight the importance of using an AOAC-PTM certified method to detect foodborne pathogens."

The AOAC Research Institute bases certification of methods on independent study results demonstrating that a given method meets its product performance claims as expressed in the product package insert. For the 3M Molecular Detection Assay Listeria PTM study, artificially contaminated surfaces were evaluated using the 3M Molecular Detection System as compared to the appropriate U.S. Food and Drug Administration or U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service reference method. 3M™ Enviro Swabs and 3M™ Sponges were included as collection devices in this study of select surfaces of: stainless steel, plastic and concrete. No statistically significant differences were found in results between the 3M method and the reference methods.