Salmonella tape

Iowa State University researchers have developed a technique for testing the presence of salmonella.

The process, developed by Byron Brehm-Stecher, assistant professor in food science and human nutrition, and his graduate student Bledar Bisha, begins with applying a strip of adhesive tape to the food. The tape is then carefully removed, taking a sample of whatever is on the skin of the produce.

That sample is then put on a slide and soaked in a special warm, soapy mixture that contains a genetic marker that binds with salmonella and gives off a fluorescent glow when viewed under an ultraviolet light.

Use of the genetic marker approach is called Fluorescent In-Situ Hybridisation, or FISH. The approach can tell investigators if the produce is contaminated with salmonella in about two hours. Current methods of detecting salmonella take one to seven days.

Brehm-Stecher and Bisha call the process 'tape-FISH' and note that it could be an important technique for salmonella investigators.