Evaluation of a Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based System for Detecting Salmonella Species from Pork Carcass Sponge Samples

Pork carcass sponge samples (n = 230) collected from 10 Taiwanese slaughter plants were screened for Salmonella using 2 methods: BAX® for Screening/Salmonella, a polymerase chain reaction‐based detection system and a culture method using SM‐ID agar as the selective plating medium. The BAX method identified 14 samples as positive for Salmonella. The 8 samples identified as Salmonella‐positive by the SM‐ID method were also BAX‐positive. Inoculation studies showed BAX detected Salmonella in samples having initial 1.4 × 101 cfu/mL Salmonella inoculum prior to the enrichment process in the presence of 3.0 × 106 cfu/mL of non‐Salmonella florae. BAX provides a rapid screening alternative to the culture method for Salmonella detection.