ABSTRACT

The food industry is witnessing a tug-of-war as processors make a slow transition from the use of traditional microbiological methods for quality control/quality assurance of foods, which are essentially designed around the recovery and enumeration of viable bacteria in the food matrix, to miniaturized rapid methods and molecular tools that achieve the same purpose with greater sensitivity, specificity, and in less time. In order to successfully counter increasing consumer demand for high quality food, to remain abreast of emerging food-associated pathogenic bacteria, and in keeping with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) implementation, significant resources are being invested in monitoring food during and

immediately following processing to preclude spoilage and/or pathogenic bacteria from contaminating food, or detect them prior to shipment for retail sale (1).