The method is based on the hybridization of synthetic deoxyribonucleic acid probes to ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequences unique to Listeria. This method was compared to 2 culture methods: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration method for the detection of Listeria in dairy products and sea-foods and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service method for Listeria in meats. Six food types with replicate samples containing various concentrations of Listeria were analyzed by the collaborating laboratories. Listeria was detected in 774 samples using the DNAH method and in 772 samples using a culture method. The DNAH and culture methods were in agreement for 668 samples containing Listeria and 306 samples without Listeria. The overall rate of agreement between methods was 82.3%. The method has been adopted first action by AOAC INTERNATIONAL.

A dry-film coliform count plate that is inoculated with 5 mL sample was compared with the Violet Red Bile Agar plate method in a collaborative study by 18 laboratories. Products analyzed were 2% milk, chocolate milk, cream, vanilla ice cream, cottage cheese, and cheese. Collaborators tested blind duplicate uninoculated samples and samples inoculated at low, medium, and high level. Significantly (P< 0.05) higher numbers of coliforms were recovered by the dry-film method from 2% milk samples at the 3 inoculum levels, the chocolate milk at the low- and high-inoculum levels, and the cream at the high-inoculum level. Significantly higher counts were obtained by the agar method for cottage cheese samples at the low-inoculum level. The repeatability standard deviation for the dry-film method was significantly higher for the high-inoculum level chocolate milk sample and the medium-inoculum level cottage cheese. The same statistic was significantly higher for the agar method at all 3 inoculum levels in the 2% milk and the medium-inoculum level cream. The high-sensitivity dry rehydratable film method for enumeration of coliforms in dairy products has been adopted first action by AOAC INTERNATIONAL.