Life Technologies has become the exclusive distributor in Europe, Middle East & Africa for CEERAM molecular tests that are designed to quickly and accurately detect the presence of food-borne viruses.

Up until now the kits, Norovirus GI and GII, Hepatitis A and Mengovirus, have been sold mainly by CEERAM worldwide to major food manufacturers and service laboratories to help reduce the risk of contamination.

'Considering the rise of high-profile virus outbreaks in the last year alone, it's clear that rapid and accurate molecular tests are paramount to keep widespread contamination away from consumers,' said Benoit Lebeau, CEO of The European Centre for Expertise and Research on Microbial Agents (CEERAM).

Life Technologies has developed highly accurate and rapid testing solutions for a broad range of food products and environmental samples since 2008. It has done so by using its whole genome sequencing capabilities to design its assays. AFNOR and AOAC certification for its top four products, MicroSEQ® Listeria spp. Listeria monocytogenes, MicroSEQ® Salmonella spp. and E.coli O157:H7 applies to the assays, the sample preparation workflow, the real-time PCR instrumentation and the data interpreting software.

Not for use in human or animal diagnostic procedures.