USA – Alden Biotechnology, a Missouri-based multinational company, is introducing a groundbreaking suspended simultaneous sandwich assay (SSSA) designed to transform food safety and quality testing.
This novel testing method, described as fitting in the palm of one’s hand, aims to deliver faster and more reliable results compared to traditional modalities.
At the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Food Processing (IAFP) held from July 14-17 in Long Beach, California, Alden showcased its next-generation diagnostic solutions. These innovations are particularly relevant for safeguarding meat and poultry products, where timely testing is critical.
Traditional testing methods often require several days to yield results, a delay that Alden aims to overcome with its new technology.
The SSSA leverages advancements in the “internet of things” to offer a new pathway for ensuring food safety, quality, and compliance. Unlike the commonly used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, Alden’s method employs a bead-based approach.
This innovative technique has been designed to reduce the time-to-result from several days to just a few hours, thus enabling food industry professionals to take swift action based on test outcomes.
Elijah Sharpe, Alden’s founder and Chief Executive Officer, emphasized the practical benefits of the SSSA.
“This test marks a pivotal moment for the food and agriculture supply chain because we’ve decreased time-to-result from a few days to a few hours – so we’re saving our customers time, lowering their costs, improving their operations, and dramatically empowering them to manage and mitigate risk within their operations,” Sharpe said.
“Our testing platform is the first of its kind, and it’s the ideal solution for food industry professionals who need to spend less time analyzing results and more time taking action.”
Certification and validation
The AOAC Research Institute Performance Tested MethodsSM (PTM) Program recently certified Alden’s S1 for E. coli O157 testing method for ground beef and beef trim.
The PTM program compared the SSSA approach to the USDA/FSIS Microbiology Laboratory Guidebook and the ISO Technical Standard 13136:2012 PCR reference methods, finding “no statistically significant difference from the reference methods.”
Additional microbe tests, including those for Listeria, Salmonella, and Campylobacter, are expected to receive PTM validation in the coming months.
Enhanced safety and efficiency
Alden’s SSSA technology is designed for safety and efficiency within production environments. Unlike traditional systems such as PCR, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and lateral flow testing, the SSSA poses no risk of exposing personnel, products, or equipment to harmful control pathogens.
The technology involves placing a small sample volume into a cuvette containing the SSSA, where nanoparticles, proprietary coatings, and custom ratios work together to capture and detect targeted bacteria, resulting in a visible change.
Onsite and offsite solutions
Alden offers both offsite laboratory testing and a portable onsite testing solution, providing flexibility for its customers.
An online platform digitizes results and offers transparency throughout the testing workflow, ensuring businesses can maintain operational continuity, uphold product safety, and comply with regulatory standards.
Austin Gray, Alden’s Chief Operating Officer, highlighted the mission behind the technology. “At Alden, we’ve made it our mission to support a safer, healthier world by modernizing the way we test for dangerous microbes in the food we eat,” Gray said. “It’s incredibly exciting to bring these new technologies to life, and we look forward to sharing more about it in person at the IAFP Annual Meeting.”
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