Recent sensing technologies for pathogen detection in milk: A review

Quality control utilising Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points in the dairy industry generates a large volume of samples. The associated costs are significant. The development and application of fast, sensitive and cost effective analytical systems for pathogen detection in milk could aid the industry in the reduction of overheads, find new uses in dairy farming and production precision management and unlock new markets. Recent progress in pathogen sensing technologies for milk analysis, in particular nucleic acid amplification and biosensors, is reviewed here. The importance of representative samples, detection probability and Practical Detection Limit is clarified. Methods for sample pretreatment are discussed in association with the most applicable detection methods. The major findings are summarised and future perspectives are drawn to inspire new ideas in the scientific community. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.