FASTER THAN
LIGHTNING
22 OCTOBER 2018
A user-friendly foodborne pathogen detection device
developed by a multidisciplinary team of University of
Alberta researchers has been shown to be the fastest
and most sensitive, according to new research.
An engineer with
the Faculty of
Medicine and
Dentistry Patrick
Pilarski says
most methods for screening
foodborne pathogens are
slow and require 24 to 48
hours for results. “They
result in frequent food
recalls if pathogens
are found,” he says.
“The results of our
recent study set a
new standard in rapid
and accurate testing
for bacteria in a wide
range of consumables.
It is ready for
commercialisation.
Someone without any
expertise in microbiology
could perform the test
with a single push of a
button, and produce results
within one shift, for example,
at a meat processing plant.”
The device, called the GelCycler
Mark II, has been shown to be
capable of detecting and reporting E.
coli contamination in 41 minutes. The
key to the device, which in rudimentary
terms involves placing a small amount of food
on a cassette containing desiccated hydrogel, is
the elimination of the bacteria enrichment phase
currently used in most testing techniques, Pilarski
says. Because most testing platforms cannot
detect a single bacterium, enrichment protocols
are routinely used in which bacteria obtained from
defined amounts of food product are cultured in
broth to increase the number of organisms to a
level that is detectable, study co-author and food
microbiologist Lynn McMullen says. “Usually the
enrichment step takes 12 to 48 hours, resulting
in significant delays in identifying food products
harbouring pathogenic contaminants, whereas
our device vastly shortens the time most testing
platforms need to detect a single unenriched
bacterium per capillary reaction. We have coupled
the new device with a very short enrichment
process that allows us to get a result in less than
seven hours.” In addition to detecting E. coli,
the device is capable of identifying Salmonella
enterica, Campylobacter jejuni and Listeria
monocytogenes, McMullen says. “The reality is
that currently, meat processors are often holding
product to wait for results. The GelCycler Mark
II can help get it out the door quicker and reduce
the food safety risks for consumers.” One in eight
Canadians will get sick with a foodborne illness,
McMullen says. “As far as I am concerned, there
is no excuse for foodborne illness and disease
because it is preventable. And prevention starts at
the farm and goes through the various production
phases to the consumer. So having a rapid testing
device that allows processors to be better able to
detect problems before they are shipped out the
door is an important contribution."