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Roanoke, VA - Luna Innovations Incorporated announced recently at the 2007 Food Safety & Security Summit in Washington, DC, two products that are under development to provide an integrated approach to the management of bacterial contamination in food: a rapid bacterial viability kit to assess decontamination efficiency and to evaluate the cleanliness of surfaces, and what is anticipated to be the first in a family of bacteriophage products.

Luna's rapid bacterial viability kit is specifically designed to assess the presence of bacteria to determine the effectiveness of a decontamination routine used to clean surfaces in the food processing and manufacturing industry. The kit is intended to be a faster solution than standard culture methods, giving food manufacturers more timely information about their decontamination processes.

Luna's initial bacteriophage product candidate is targeted to destroy Listeria monocytogenes, a common foodborne pathogen responsible for the disease Listeriosis. According to the Center for Disease Control, about 20% of the people in the United States who become seriously ill with Listeriosis each year die. Luna's approach is to use a variety of phage types, creating a broad killing agent, to improve the safety of food. The mixture is being designed to be added in line with current food production and manufacturing processes or sprayed on food surfaces to reduce L. monocytogenes contamination. Luna's phage product candidate is all natural and does not contain preservatives or potentially-allergenic substances. The phage also does not alter the taste, odor, or color of foods.

"The products currently under development at Luna are aimed at providing a safe solution for the control of deadly microorganisms in meat, fruits and vegetables," said Dr. Richard Obiso, Director of Life Sciences at Luna Innovations.

SOURCE: Luna Innovations Incorporated