Strategic Diagnostics Inc. (NASDAQ:SDIX), a leading provider of biotechnology-based detection solutions for food safety and life science applications, today announced that it has been issued a Certificate of Validation for its RapidChek® SELECT™ Salmonella system by the AOAC Research Institute Emergency Response Validation (ERV) program.

The AOAC Research Institute, a subsidiary of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, launched the ERV program in response to the second Salmonella recall linked to peanut butter in February 2009, the largest food recall in U.S. history. This program is designed to respond immediately to emerging food contamination crises by rapidly evaluating detection methods of several candidates once a crisis is identified. The ERV program employs the Performance-Tested MethodsSM program operated by the AOAC Research Institute. The AOAC Research Institute awarded the RapidChek® SELECT™ Salmonella system Performance-Tested Methods status in 2006. The recently awarded Certificate of Validation extends the validation of the RapidChek® SELECT™ Salmonella system previously certified for the identification of Salmonella in various foods to now include detection of Salmonella in peanut butter.

Scott Coates, AOAC Research Institute Senior Managing Director, commented, “Food processors and the President’s Administration are responding to increasing pressure to protect the health of consumers. The AOAC’s new Emergency Response Validation program supports these enhanced expectations by independently evaluating and validating the technologies that most effectively address Salmonella and other food safety outbreaks.”

SDI offers a simple, accurate and reliable Salmonella testing solution to companies that manufacture peanut butter or use peanut butter in their manufactured products. SDI believes the RapidChek® SELECT™ Salmonella test method is unlike any other rapid or conventional method on the market. SDI’s method delivers the industry’s lowest rate of false results while still offering low start-up and operational costs including reduced sample preparation, transfer and incubation steps and no investment into capital equipment. Given the President’s recent Food Safety Working Group recommendations, SDI believes there will be increased pressure on food companies to meet safety requirements while also meeting financial demands requiring them to employ technologies such as RapidChek® SELECT™ that are accurate, fast and cost effective.