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# Faster Listeria Tests Start Hitting the Market
- URL: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2015/05/faster-listeria-tests-start-hitting-the-market/
- Published: 2015-05-29T01:40:25.000Z
- Updated: 2018-07-31T06:39:50.000Z
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Nutrition & Public Health, Science & Research, AOAC International, biosensor chip, Dr. Carmen Gomes, Listeria detection, RLS Logistics, Sample6 Detect/L, Texas A&M, USDA, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-25 10:59

Once food manufacturers begin [looking](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2015-recalls-those-on-the-lookout-for-listeria-are-finding-it/) for *Listeria* more often, it’s only natural that they will begin to look for faster tests. Traditional means of detecting *Listeria* involve techniques and processes that take several days to complete while waiting for the return of laboratory results. But new options are emerging. Here are a couple of examples:

[![listeriabug_406x250](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2015/05/listeriabug_406x250.jpg)](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2015/05/listeriabug%5F406x250-1.jpg?ref=foodsafetynews.com)

Dr. Carmen Gomes of Texas A&M’s Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering is the inventor of a biosensor chip that can detect *Listeria* in food samples within two to three minutes. Gomes [says](http://today.agrilife.org/2015/05/22/real-time-listeria-biosensor-prototype/?ref=foodsafetynews.com) that soon the biosensor chip will be able to detect levels as low as one bacterium in a 25-gram sample, or about one ounce. The same technology will be able to detect other pathogens such as *E. coli O157:H7*. Texas A&M focused first on *Listeria* because of its ability to thrive at freezing temperatures and because it is the third leading cause of death among foodborne illnesses.

- [Sample6 Detect/L](http://sample6.com/sample6-detect/?ref=foodsafetynews.com) is the first in-plant pathogen detection for *Listeria* that has been approved by USDA and AOAC International, the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. Within minutes, it can detect as little as one cell of *Listeria* without enrichment, automatically reading and recording results. Companies such as RLS Logistics in New Jersey, a third-party logistic company, are using Sample6 because it provides in-shift results without enrichment, meaning it no longer needs the services of an outside laboratory but can be run in the plant.

A broad spectrum of food products have been recalled for *Listeria* contamination during 2015\. The difficulty of removing the pathogen once it gets lodged in a food processing plant is causing some manufacturers to step up their search efforts.