Distributor Training Nov 4-5, Salt Lake City

Thanks to our distributors Anatech, iMeth, JMC, and JKI who came out to our distributor training November 4-5. We had a great time getting to know all of you!

29th University of Wisconsin – River Falls Symposium

Current Concepts In Foodborne Pathogens and Rapid and Automated Methods in Food Microbiology, October 18-21, 2009

Idaho Technology was proud to participate in this year’s University of Wisconsin River Falls Symposium where speakers from academia, industry and regulatory agencies provided an overview and update on the pathogens, toxins, and contaminants that occur in food, water, and the environment.

The emphasis of the workshop was on the practical applications to solve food microbiological safety and quality problems. In addition, technical representatives from selected companies, such as Idaho Technology, involved in developing and marketing instruments and assays for microbiological analysis of food participated in the program by presenting and demonstrating the latest technologies in food safety.

Topics ranged from approaches to food allergens to consumer attitudes toward food, nutrition, and health and of course food safety trends and risk management. Our own Adam Greer attended and presented on our R.A.P.I.D. ® LT Food Security System and its sensitivity, accuracy and high speed. To learn more about the R.A.P.I.D. LT FSS visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/index.html.

Food Safety Tip of the Week: Always wash fresh fruits and vegetables under cool running tap water before eating. This removes any lingering dirt while also removing or reducing any bacteria or other substances.

E. coli Happenings

Following a recent story in The New York Times titled “E. coli path shows flaws in beef inspection” there has been a flurry of statements and proposals by various agencies to help the public understand what is being done to ensure the safety of ground beef. This has ranged from the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to the president of the American Meat Institute commenting on what both government and private industry are doing to take action. Additionally, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is planning to introduce the “E.coli eradication act” which is legislation requiring all ground beef facilities to test product regularly both before and after it is ground. To read more about these latest happenings visit http://tinyurl.com/yh3547j and to read the article that started all the recent activity click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

Idaho Technology, Inc. is also committed to helping eradicate foodborne pathogens and recently released our AOAC approved E. coli O157:H7 kit which uses real-time PCR technology to rapidly identify the presence of E. coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef and uncooked spinach in less than an hour after only 8 hours of enrichment. To read more about our food security system please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/

Food Safety Tip: Cook or freeze fresh poultry, fish, ground meats, and variety meats within 2 days; other beef, veal, lamb or pork, within 3 to 5 days.

Idaho Technology Inc. Receives AOAC-RI Validation For E.coli O157:H7 Test

On October 6, 2009 ITI was proud to announced that we have been granted Performance Tested Methods Status by the AOAC Research Institute (Certificate No. 100901) for our E.coli O157:H7 test used with the R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System (FSS). The assay uses real-time PCR technology to identify the presence of E.coli O157:H7 in raw ground beef and uncooked spinach food samples.

The system marks a milestone in real-time PCR testing of foodborne pathogens as this platform enables detection of E.coli O157:H7 in less than one hour after only 8 hours of enrichment. The validation studies on ground beef and spinach prove that the R.A.P.I.D. LT FSS performed as well or better than traditional culture methods with faster time to result. The complete system provides the easiest end-to-end protocol for PCR-based detection methods, and the E.coli O157:H7 test joins the Idaho Technology Listeria spp. and Salmonella spp. assays as AOAC-RI approved.

The validation of this rapid screening tool for E.coli is an important development for all food manufacturers since E.coli O157:H7 is a major health problem and is estimated to cause infection in more than 70,000 patients a year in the United States alone. The use of an E.coli O157:H7 screening tool that is both rapid and accurate will permit earlier release of products without fear of potential outbreaks or possible food recalls. The assay is intended for use by trained laboratory personnel.

To read more visit our website at: http://www.idahotech.com/ContactUs/Media.html

Food Safety Tip: Check the temperature of your unit with an appliance thermometer. To slow bacterial growth, the refrigerator should be at 40° F; the freezer, 0° F.

New Food Safety Website

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), most people are clueless about proper safety and storage techniques that can prevent the spread of food borne illnesses—despite the fact that food borne illnesses sicken roughly 76 million people, cause 725,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the US every year.

Now there is a new website that answers all of consumer’s food safety questions. The website includes information such as food storage times, minimum cooking temperatures, and fresh produce safety along with the latest recalls and alerts reported. Consumers can also learn more about food borne pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli, food safety regulations and how the government responds to pathogen outbreaks. Visit http://foodsafety.gov/ to check out the latest in food safety education.

Food Safety Tip: Store perishable fresh fruits and vegetables (like strawberries, lettuce, herbs, and mushrooms) in a clean refrigerator at a temperature of 40° F or below.

Winner of our Online Survey Announced!

We would like to congratulate Keith Schneider from the University of Florida on winning our drawing from our online survey. Keith has won a 16 GB Touch iPod! We hope Keith enjoys it, and we'd like to thank everyone who entered, we appreciate your time in taking the survey and getting your feedback and insights.

The survey was designed to help us better serve the market as we continue to develop our Food Security product line, which consists of our R.A.P.I.D.® LT Food Security System and our assays for detecting foodborne pathogens including Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, L. mono and more.

For more information on our food security products please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/

Keeping Up on Food Safety Regulations

With outbreaks from food-borne illnesses killing an estimated 5,000 Americans each year and sending hundreds of thousands to the hospital, the Obama Administration has made food safety a priority and earlier this year established a new food safety working group. With the increased focus on food safety, here are a few of the new measures in place:

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will help the food industry create better tracking methods to locate the source of a food-borne illness.
• A network will be created to improve communication among all the federal agencies that regulate food safety.
• To find E. coli contamination, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety Inspection Service will increase sampling of ground beef ingredients.
• The FDA has announced a new regulation to help make eggs safer for consumers to eat. The regulation is designed to cut down the number of illnesses caused by eggs contaminated with the bacterium salmonella.

The key now is that eggs will have to be refrigerated from farm to market.

The FDA said salmonella is a major cause of foodborne illness in the United States, and raw or undercooked eggs are a major source of such infections. An estimated 142,000 illnesses each year in the United States are caused by consuming eggs contaminated with salmonella.

To read more visit: http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/07/07/us-unveils-stricter-food-safety-standards.html

To learn about Idaho Technology's easy, accurate and timely food pathogen identification system which tests for pathogens such as Salmonella, E.coli O157:H7, Listeria and more please visit: http://www.idahotech.com/FoodSecurity/