Dutch company wins top award for Listeria-fighting product – Fishupdate.com

Dutch company wins top award for Listeria-fighting product Published:  05 November, 2007

A DUTCH company has fended off competition from eight other finalists to scoop top prize for its ‘green’ Listeria- and other dangerous bacteria-combating product, LISTEX(tm).

At FI Europe, the world’s largest food ingredients event, with a reportedly record breaking 23,000 visitors and over 1,000 exhibitors in London this week, a distinguished panel of judges awarded its prestigious Gold Award to EBI Food Safety of The Netherlands.

In its fight against Listeria, and other dangerous bacteria, EBI Food Safety is the first company to market with a commercial bacteriophage product, which works against Listeria monocytogenes, the deadly food pathogens.

Henry Dixon, chairman of the judging committee and director of international food marketing communications agency Barret Dixon Bell, said: “LISTEX(tm) is a true innovation, a new approach to an urgent and growing problem that affects both consumers and manufacturers.”

LISTEX(tm) effectively eliminates Listeria monocytogenes, without affecting the other properties of the food. It is a safe and natural product, which is easy to apply in a variety of Listeria-susceptible products, such as hams and hot dogs, cheese, fish and many RTE-products. It addresses a multi-billion dollar industry problem, on account of Listeria’s high mortality (20-30%) and ability to grow at refrigerated temperatures and in low oxygen environments such as packaged foods.

First associated with a food borne outbreak in 1981, killing seven, Listeria monocytogenes is now responsible for almost half of all deaths caused by food pathogens. Other potentially fatal pathogens are Salmonella, Campylobacter and E-coli, for which EBI Food Safety is also developing bacteriophage products.

EBI Food Safety’s CEO, Mark Offerhaus said: “We are honoured by the judges’ decision. This choice is a confirmation from the industry that the use of phages is a logical one. Last month the largest frozen hamburger producer in the US went out of business, just two weeks after it’s first ever product recall. The consequences of a contaminated product reaching the market can be catastrophic. Use of natural phages translates into risk-reduction, valued by shareholders and consumers alike.”

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