Comparison of modified immunodiffusion and Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) methods for detection of Salmonella in raw flesh and highly contaminated food types.

A wide variety of naturally contaminated and inoculated raw flesh and highly contaminated food types was analyzed by a modified immunodiffusion enrichment protocol and the Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) method to determine the equivalence of these methods. This modification was developed by Agriculture Canada to allow addition of a high-temperature selective enrichment step in tetrathionate brilliant green broth at 42 degrees C while maintaining a 2-day total test time. Foods representing red meat, white meat, frog, and seafoods and one type of animal meal were evaluated. A total of 320 samples was tested, resulting in false negative rates of 5.2 and 3.5%, respectively, for the modified immunodiffusion and the BAM culture methods. The overall agreement rate was 96.9%.