The ability to detect select agents and toxins is becoming increasingly imperative in today’s global food industry. Diseases caused by select agents are not only a public health issue, but also a problem of national security. With a larger vulnerable population than ever before, the detection of biological agents create a gap in the food defense system where everyone requires sustenance. This session will include three speakers that will present topics on the detection of select agents in foods. An overview of current research and method development projects, large scale surveillance, proficiency testing, and high profile event analysis will be presented by the Food Emergency Response Network. Current research areas on method development for the detection of various select agents in foods will, also, be covered. Another presentation will include identifying Clostridium botulinum and Ricin toxin in foods by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS). This method utilizes the endoproteinase activity of the toxin to identify all BoNT types with a MALDI-TOF/MS by cleaving peptides at specific sites. Each toxin is identified by the mass-to-charge ratios of fragmented peptides for BoNT and the depurination of a RNA substrate for ricin toxin. The final speaker will discuss the development of an enrichment broth that supports the outgrowth of Yersinia pestis, a differential chromogenic agar to detect Y. pestis in a background of competitors naturally present in foods, as well as screening and identification techniques to verify isolates. This speaker will, also, elaborate on the development of a rugged and specific real-time PCR method for screening food enrichments for presence of Y. pestis and suspect colonies.

Presentations