Rapid microbial screening tests are slowly being accepted by food microbiologists. The ability to obtain test results while still maintaining the test's reliability would be an important benefit to food companies. However, even rapid tests require enrichment of the target bacteria to the level of the assay's detection limit. The bacteria may be sublethally injured by heating, and they may also be outnumbered by competitive bacteria. The complete enrichment procedure therefore comprises a number of steps and takes several days. Because this procedure is crucial for the success of any microbial screening method, alterations in the protocol should only be made with the utmost caution. In this study, selective enrichment is replaced by fast immunomagnetic separation (IMS) of Salmonella and its competitors. Detection of Salmonella in the enriched culture is subsequently conducted using a rapid enzyme immunoassay (EIA). If the Salmonella concentration is higher than 5000 bacteria ml−1after pre‐enrichment, the combination of IMS and EIA can detect the presence of Salmonella in 24 h.