DuPont Qualicon BAX System Included in AOAC Emergency Response Validation Program

WILMINGTON, Del. — The BAX system from DuPont Qualicon has been included in the newly launched Emergency Response Validation (ERV) program of the AOAC Research Institute, a subsidiary of AOAC International in Gaithersburg, Md.

This new program is designed to respond immediately to emerging food contamination crises, such as the outbreak of Salmonella in peanut butter products, by rapidly evaluating detection methods as trustworthy tools for investigators, food regulators and the industry.

The BAX system PCR assay for Salmonella detection was certified by AOAC RI in 2002 as effective in many food types, including peanut butter. The new ERV program evaluates a set of previously certified methods to determine their ability to detect the specific contaminant and food type associated with the emerging outbreak. Blind coded samples are prepared by an independent laboratory and the candidate methods are tested. Results are then analyzed and compared to established reference methods to determine efficacy, and AOAC RI publishes the list of successful methods on their Web site.

The program is currently evaluating methods for detecting Salmonella in peanut butter products and expects to post the list of validated test methods in late March.