Magna Medical Services Inc.: New instant Salmonella and E. coli tests available for food service industry

May 29, 2006
From a press release

Toronto -- Today, a new instant screening test for harmful levels of E.Coli and Salmonella, developed by a medical consortium of industry and clinical facilities, and distributed by Desaderal Inc. in Canada and Magna Medical Services Inc. in the United States, will be available to the food service industry worldwide.

Magna Medical Services, Inc., with offices in Las Vegas, Nevada; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Orlando, Florida, "The applications for this product will be far reaching" says General Manager Robert Greene "It a great feeling to know that your product can save lives". The test can alert food handlers to levels of harm within minutes, instead of the routine 2 - 5 days it takes to verify contamination from lab culture samples.

Recent outbreaks of Salmonella and E. Coli, caused by industry contamination and improper home cooking procedures, have contributed to severe illness among consumers worldwide Salmonella bacteria, found in meat, and animal waste, particularly poultry, causes food poisoning in humans. Proper handling and cooking procedures prevent harmful infection from poultry which naturally contains Salmonella. The MMS Salmonella strip can detect 50 of the most common and deadliest strains. The strips are submerged in food samples, if the organism is present the strip will change color.

Escherichia coli (usually abbreviated to E. coli) is one of the many species of bacteria that is naturally found in the lower intestines of warm-blooded animals. "There are literally thousands of varieties of E.Coli, and the most common and deadliest strains including the O157:H7 and E.coli 103 have been included for detection in the instant E.Coli strip.