Abstract: E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureusenes and Salmonella are important foodborne pathogens with high environmental resistance. Foodborne infection has become a very important hygienic problem because of the rapid expansion of food trade and highly increased mobility of today,s populations. Therefore, the detection of these bacterial contaminatants in foods is very important for public health. Traditionally, the detection of foodborne pathogens involves sample collection, enrichment, and isolation of the target organism on selective and/or indicator media. Such culture-based approaches are less sensitive, less specific and time-consuming, which require 48－96 h from sample collection to final results. Therefore, a sensitive, specific and rapid assay for the detection of these pathogens is highly desired. In this paper, the current pollution situation of the four pathogenic bacteria above is reviewed, and seven novel detection technologies such as PCR, SPR, biosensor, immune identification, immunomagnetic separation and capillary electrophoresis are summarized.

Key words: pathogens, pollution, novel detection technology