Botulism Assay Quickly Detects Potent Foodborne Toxin. ARS-USDA, May 4, 2009. Though cases of botulism food poisoning aren’t common in the United States today, they’re nonetheless of concern to food safety researchers. That’s why Agricultural Research Service (ARS) biologist Larry H. Stanker and colleagues at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif., developed a new, improved test for detecting what’s known as "serotype A" of the toxin. [ See ]