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Mass Spectrometry to detect foodborne contaminants

Direct contact with animals or fomites, person- to-person contact, and consumption of food and water contaminated by biological agents, that is, foodborne pathogens and their toxins, may result in foodborne disease outbreak in humans. Summarized report prepared by the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, based on data collected from 2009 to 2015, shows that up to 80% of all hospitalizations and reported deaths are associated with outbreaks caused by Listeria, Salmonella, and Shiga toxin (Stx)producing Escherichia coli (STEC). Salmonella dysenteriae, Shigella sonnei, and Shigella flexneri produce a potent exotoxin, the so-called Stx. The main purpose, and at the same time a challenge, of diagnostic tools, is identification of causative agents and origin of disease in a fast, consistent, and effective manner. In the last 10 years, the rapid improvements of analytical instrumentation and their applications, predominantly mass spectrometers and hyphenated separation techniques, enabled the second milestone that is already noticeable in clinical laboratories worldwide. The latter was discussed in this chapter with a special focus on the Stx toxins.

mass spectrometry, foodborne bacterial toxins, Shiga toxins, Shiga-like toxins, STEC, Stx

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