Applicability of RIDA®QUICK Verotoxin/O157 Combi kit for detection of Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 in raw milk

Many methods have been developed for the rapid and sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in milk and other foodstuffs. This study was designed to evaluate the application of RIDA®QUICK Verotoxin/O157 Combi kit, an immuno-chromatographic detection method, for the detection of this pathogen in raw milk. RIDA®QUICK kit showed appreciable results in detecting Escherichia coli O157:H7 in raw milk, as it was able to detect as low as 100 CFU/ ml of raw milk, and as low as 10 CFU/ml of sterilized milk. Raw milk’s microflora negatively affected the detection sensitivity, which could be overcome through a prior antibiotics’ enrichment step. Comparable results between this new method and a reference detection method were also obtained. Obtained data suggests the applicability of RIDA®QUICK kit in detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in raw milk.