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Paradigm Diagnostics, Inc. announces the approval of their method modification for screening environmental Listeria sp. by AOAC International, the Association of Official Analytical Communities. 

Paradigm Diagnostics develops and markets novel diagnostic screening tests for bacterial pathogens causing foodborne illness. The company currently markets two environmental screening tests for detection of Listeria and Salmonella in the food-processing environment. The method modification substantially improves the positive predictive value over the current LIB screening test. In a recent field trial study (Microorganisms 2019, 7(5), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7050151), the authors demonstrated that the new LIB formulation provides > 99% positive predictive value without sacrificing sensitivity.

 The method modification is significant since the USDA and FDA mandate food processing facilities to monitor their environments for the presence of Listeria sp. This method is compatible with modern genetic methods, e.g. PCR amplification, used in large and small laboratories. Significantly, the method allows facilities to conduct this monitoring program without having to carry out extensive analyses on all the samples since only the presumptively positive samples would require laboratory confirmation.

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