Life Technologies Corporation today announced that the AFNOR Certification system of France has issued the sector-leading NF Validation quality mark for the Pathatrix® 10 Pooling Salmonella spp. Kit linked to MicroSEQ® Salmonella spp. Detection Kit. Company officials said the approval provides further validation of the alternative cost-effective solution for the accurate detection of Salmonella in a variety of sample matrices, noting that the Pathatrix® 10 Pooling Salmonella spp. Kit received AOAC PTM approval earlier this year.

“Completing the AFNOR certification process provides our customers with the confidence in alternative methods that can be used against a reference method,” said Nir Nimrodi, general manager of Life Technologies' Animal and Food Safety Business. “The scope and stringency of NF Validation, requiring an extensive validation study as well as a multi-lab ring trial, demonstrates the method’s robustness and accuracy.”

The Pathatrix® 10 Pooling Salmonella spp. Kit supports pooling of up to 10 separately enriched samples into a single preparation, which is then assayed as an individual test in the real-time PCR-based MicroSEQ® Salmonella spp. Detection Kit. A negative result indicates all representative samples are negative, whereas a positive result indicates that at least one representative sample is positive and the enriched samples must be re-run through the Pathatrix and the MicroSEQ assay individually. According to Life Technologies officials, this workflow can reduce downstream testing costs by up to 90 percent without trading performance. It is approved for testing on meat, including raw beef, cooked delicatessen meats and ready-to-reheat foods as well as dairy products, including milk powders, infant formula, and milk.

This approval is the result of Life Technologies’ acquisition of Matrix Microscience and its Pathatrix® Auto platform in January 2012.