The long term aims of this project are the development of safe sanitizers for decontamination of raw food products to prevent food-borne infections and to extend the shelf-life of these products. Presently, available chemical and physical sanitizers are either not safe as they may result in toxic residues in food or the agents are not readily accepted (radiation) for use on food surfaces. Raw food such as vegetables, fruits, eggs, fish, meat and poultry pose serious health hazards when contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms such as S. typhimurium, L. monocytogenes and A. hydrophilia. Microcide plans to develop safe sanitizing formulations by using food additive or GRAS (Generally Regarded AS Safe) chemical ingredients which display rapid antimicrobial properties under certain physico-chemical conditions. These chemical ingredients will be incorporated in formulations under the activating conditions to prepare safe and effective sanitizers. Microcide further plans to evaluate the efficacy of these sanitizers to reduce the population of pathogenic bacteria from laboratory contaminated raw food products such as vegetables. This technical innovation will have important commercial impact on food and health related industries. Based on feasibility studies in Phase 1, a commercial development of safe sanitizers will be undertaken in Phase 2 SBIR program.
