SureTect Real-Time PCR System

Beverage producers face increasing pressure to ensure product integrity, quality, and brand protection in the face of complex spoilage risks. From yeast and mold contamination to spoilage bacteria, identifying and addressing these issues early is critical to maintaining quality and operational efficiency.

Discover how the Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ Beverage Spoilage Multiplex PCR Assay provides a fast, broad-range molecular solution for detecting key spoilage microorganisms that threaten beverage quality.

In an industry where precision, speed, and compliance are non-negotiable, this guide to PCR automation for food safety offers a comprehensive roadmap for laboratories ready to modernize their microbiological testing workflows. Developed in partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific, this essential resource explores how automated PCR technologies are transforming food safety testing, reducing human error, increasing throughput, and ensuring regulatory compliance across global markets.

Inside, you'll discover how the Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ PCR System delivers rapid, reproducible results for high-volume labs, with proven equivalency to manual workflows. Real-world case studies from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and OMIC USA Inc. illustrate how automation has helped leading organizations overcome labor shortages, scale operations, and maintain accuracy under pressure. Whether you're testing for Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, or other pathogens, this guide provides actionable insights into selecting the right workflow, manual or automated, based on your lab’s size, goals, and regulatory environment.

Download this SelectScience guide to explore:

• Learn how PCR automation can future-proof your lab against rising sample volumes and staffing challenges.
• Compare manual vs. automated workflows with detailed pros and cons.
• Explore validated methods and certifications (ISO 16140-2:2016, AOAC) for global compliance.
• Access implementation checklists, workflow audits, and expert recommendations to streamline your transition.

If your lab is ready to move beyond traditional culture-based testing and embrace a faster, more scalable molecular approach, this guide is your starting point.

Resource details:

• Document type: SelectScience guide
• Page count: 28
• Read time: 42 mins
• Edition: 1st

This guide provides an overview of the Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ Assay workflow.

The Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ Salmonella species PCR Assay workflow has been certified by NF VALIDATION for the detection of Salmonella species from meat, dairy, seafood, vegetables, raw beef meats with and without aromatics, production environment samples and powdered infant formula samples. This application note gives a summary of the validation studies performed to gain NF VALIDATION.

The Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ Listeria monocytogenes PCR Assay has been certified by NF VALIDATION for the detection of Listeria monocytogenes from meat, dairy, seafood, vegetable and production environment samples. This application note gives a summary of the validation studies performed as part of the NF VALIDATION.

In this application note, extended methods for the Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ Salmonella species PCR Assay are compared against the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 6579-1:2017 for a representative range of matrices.

The Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ E. coli O157:H7 species PCR Assay has been certified in accordance with the AOAC Research Institute Performance Tested Methods(PTM) Program to be used with the Applied Biosystems™ QuantStudio™ 5 Real-Time PCR Instrument to perform PCR and with Thermo Scientific™ RapidFinder™ Analysis Software version 1.0 or greater for data analysis. This application note details the inclusivity and exclusivity part of the validation.

In this application note, the Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ E. coli O157:H7 PCR Assay method is compared against the United States department of agriculture food safety inspection service microbiology laboratory guidebook 5.09 reference method for raw beef and the ISO 16654:2001 reference method for fresh spinach.

The Thermo Scientific™ SureTect™ Cronobacter species PCR Assay has been certified by NF VALIDATION for the detection of Cronobacter spp. from powdered infant formula and production environment samples. In this application note, a summary of the studies performed as part of the NF VALIDATION is provided.

Due to their ability to survive heating and desiccation, Salmonella and Cronobacter contamination is a concern for powdered infant formula (PIF), milk powders and their individual ingredients. In this application note, two studies are presented that evaluate the performance of the SureTect Salmonella species PCR Assay for the detection of Salmonella serovars from 375 g samples of milk powders, in comparison to ISO 6579-1:2017.

Friday, November 21, at 13:00 GMT | 14:00 CET | 08:00 EST | 05:00 PST

Listeriosis remains a serious public health concern. In 2023, thirty EU/EEA countries reported 2,993 confirmed cases, the highest annual total since surveillance began. In the U.S., around 1,250 cases occur each year, leading to approximately 1,070 hospitalizations. Between 2016 and 2023, a multi-country cluster linked to ready-to-eat foods resulted in 64 cases across five EU/EEA countries

These persistent outbreaks continue to challenge food producers worldwide and in response to this, regulatory requirements globally have been rapidly evolving in recognition of these threats. Remaining compliant in this fast-changing landscape adds further complexity for testing laboratories.

Regulatory bodies have responded to these threats with revisions and tightening of the current regulatory frameworks for Listeria spp. and L. monocytogenes:

• FSIS broadened its testing to include non‑Listeria monocytogenes species from January 17, 2025.
• EU Regulation 2024/2895 sets a '0 cfu/25 g' requirement for Listeria in ready‑to‑eat foods.

Register for this exclusive webinar to hear from microbiology experts, Katharine Evans, François Le Nestour and Dr. Salman Zeitouni as as they discuss how labs can stay ahead by adopting internal standards that exceed minimum regulatory requirements and by implementing robust, adaptable pathogen‑testing programs.

Key learning objectives:

• Uncover the fundamentals of Listeria and its pathogenicity
• Review major Listeria outbreaks and their human impact
• Decode recent regulatory changes from the US and EU on Listeria
• Learn how to design and validate testing protocols that go beyond minimum regulatory requirements, ensuring continuity when regulations change
• Explore Thermo Fisher Scientific's microbiology solutions for rapid detection and enumeration of Listeria and Listeria spp.

Who should attend?

• Food testing professionals

Certificate of attendance
If you attend the live webinar, you will automatically receive a certificate of attendance, including a learning outcomes summary, for continuing education purposes.

If you view the on-demand webinar, you can request a certificate of attendance by emailing editor@selectscience.net.

Tuesday, September 30, at 15:00 BST | 16:00 CEST | 10:00 EDT | 07:00 PDT

Food safety testing laboratories are under growing pressure to do more with less. As testing volumes surge, labs must deliver accurate and regulatory compliant results, while navigating staffing shortages and limited resources. These challenges are further compounded by increasing sample sizes and throughput demands.

In this webinar, meet with Dr. Salman Zeitouni and Jani Holopainen to explore real-world examples of how automation is driving transformation in food safety testing laboratories. See how labs are leveraging automated solutions to enhance accuracy and efficiency, reduce human error, and build resilient testing capabilities.

Key learning objectives:

• Explore the drivers behind automation of molecular workflows in food safety testing laboratories
• Understand key considerations and common challenges in adopting lab automation
• Discover real-world examples of successful automation implementation in microbiology labs
• Gain insight into how automated molecular workflows can support lab scalability, traceability, and long-term resilience to build a future lab today.

Who should attend?

• Laboratory professionals, including food microbiologists, lab managers, and technical service directors.
• Quality, safety, and regulatory leaders, such as quality managers, operations directors, and compliance professionals.

Certificate of attendance
If you attend the live webinar, you will automatically receive a certificate of attendance, including a learning outcomes summary, for continuing education purposes.

If you view the on-demand webinar, you can request a certificate of attendance by emailing editor@selectscience.net.

In this video, discover how using the SureTect Real-Time PCR System you can quickly and accurately detect foodborne pathogens in a broad range of foods and associated samples, in just four simple steps.

In this video, learn how the SureTect workflow can provide all the information you need for food safety, authenticity, and quality testing, using a system that is rapid, simple to implement, and easy to run on a day-to-day basis.

Multiplex PCR assay enables beverage microbiology labs to accelerate product release testing by up to six days

The Thermo Scientific SureTect Salmonella Species PCR Assay receives approval by AOAC International for a broad range of foods

New assays for Campylobacter, STEC, Vibrio and Staphylococcus aureus enable more comprehensive pathogen testing for all food manufacturers

The workflow is designed to minimize the potential for contamination of the food supply and risk to handlers and consumers