ABSTRACT
Methods used to detect Salmonella contamination of raw or processed meats or poultry must ultimately be approved by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture. There are several associations and/or agencies which publish microbiological methods for testing foods to detect the presence of Salmonella. These include the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Methodologies for the analysis of the presence of Salmonella in foods are designed to improve sensitivity while reducing both cost of analysis, and cost to the company in terms of the time a product must be held up before sale and disposal, and time required to make the best use of the method. Since not all contamination of a food product will consist of Salmonella, it is also desirable to do plate counts to determine the total aerobic contamination of a food.
