Smart Label senses spoilage in packaged meat and poultry.
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Press Release Summary:
SensorQ(TM) Smart Label verifies freshness in packaged fresh meat and poultry by measuring food-borne bacteriological levels inside packages. Label changes from tangerine orange, to indicate freshness, to tan, to indicate spoilage, when bacteria count in package reaches critical level. Made of food grade materials, product is suitable for meat packers, distributors, or grocers.
Original Press Release:
Breakthrough SensorQ(TM) Smart Label, Inspired by Military Defense Sensor Research, Verifies Freshness in Packaged Fresh Meat and Poultry by Measuring Food-Borne Bacteriological Levels - Right inside the Package.
Lexington, MA - October 17, 2007
Nearly one in four Americans suffers from food poisoning every year, with 76 million cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control. Of these, 325,000 people are hospitalized and 5,000 die.
Food Quality Sensor International, Inc. (FQSI) has developed a revolutionary new smart sensor label that senses spoilage in fresh meat and poultry products. SensorQ(TM) is applied by the meat packer, distributor, or grocer to the inside wrap of uncooked meat and poultry packages and detects food-borne bacteriological levels right inside the package. When the inside of the quality "Q" on the label is tangerine orange, the product is fresh. When the bacteria count in the package builds to a critical level, the orange turns to tan to indicate spoilage (please see images appended).
SensorQ(TM) will be introduced at the 2007 Worldwide Food Expo in Chicago, October 24th - 27th. FQSI is in discussions with Superior Farms, the largest lamb processor in the United States, to test market the label on packages of lamb prior to the SensorQ(TM) national rollout.
SensorQ(TM) is made of food grade materials and is extremely economical, costing less than 1% of the total value of the average package of meat or poultry that it labels. Marketing research indicates that over 95% of consumers would opt to purchase a product with a freshness indicator instead of a product without.
"It has taken a great deal of work on the part of the FQSI team and the cooperation of organizations like Superior Farms to develop a product that will economically serve the packers, the retailers and the consumers. The fresh meat and poultry industry can now extend its reach directly into home refrigerators to give the added level of quality assurance so critically needed in this day and age," said Marco Bonn©,
President and CEO of FQSI. Bonn© went on to say, "SensorQ(TM) will remove the skepticism which more than 40% of consumers have with the traditional 'consume by' code dating system."
"The possibilities with this new system are very exciting," said Gary Pfeiffer, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Superior Farms. "It's important that our company continue to find innovative ways to let our customers know we offer truly superior products and packaging. FQSI and Superior Farms are both committed to staying on the forefront of food safety technology."
About Food Quality Sensor International, Inc.
FQSI (www.FQSInternational.com) was incorporated in 2004, when The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. partnered with key members of the Draper sensor technology development team, Navigator Technology Ventures and seasoned food industry executives, to commercialize its food spoilage sensor technology. In 2007, Swiss-based Inventages Venture Capital Inc. and Dutch-based DSM Venturing B.V. invested in FQSI to help it implement SensorQ(TM). FQSI is currently in the final stages of testing and validating SensorQ(TM) and expects to go to test market this fall and launch nationally in the first quarter of 2008. FQSI's headquarters and laboratories are located in Lexington, Massachusetts.
