P.L. Thomas & Co. Will Manage Market Development Efforts for eatSafe™ Natural Food Wash and eatFresh™ Natural Antimicrobial in the United States and Canada
LAKE FOREST, Calif. and MORRISTOWN, N.J., May 23, 2012 — Grow Green Industries, Inc. (Lake Forest, CA) and P.L. Thomas & Co. Inc. (Morristown, NJ) announced today that they will introduce a new line of all-natural food safety and shelf-life enhancement products at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo (IFT12) in Las Vegas in late June of this year. eatSafe™ Natural Food Wash and eatFresh™ Natural Antimicrobial are the result of a multi-year research effort into effective end-to-end alternatives to chemically based food sanitizers and preservatives that will also enhance the taste, sensory profiles and shelf life of fresh produce, seafood and poultry as well as prepared and processed foods. The new patent-pending products are synergistic complexes of GRAS and organic components that provide antimicrobial/antioxidant functionality and will allow food and beverage producers to offer the "cleaner" labels that consumers increasingly demand. Grow Green Industries has conducted extensive testing on these ingredients that show, for example, that EatFresh Natural Antimicrobial in dip, sauce and soup applications proved a more effective shelf-life enhancer than sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate, while improving the overall flavor profiles of the tested formulas. In third-party lab tests, eatSafe Natural Food Wash removed 99.999% of bacteria and over 98% of pesticide residues from fresh produce in tests – making it a suitable replacement for chlorine-based sanitizers.
According to Mareya Ibrahim, Founder and CEO of Grow Green Industries, the drive behind the creation of these new all-natural products was a desire to address the food safety issue in a natural, sustainable way. "While we are making progress in the area of reducing foodborne illness in the United States, it is still a major issue. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans – or 48 million people – gets sick from the food they eat. It's a problem that is worthy of our attention. And we felt that an all-natural solution that avoided potentially harmful chemicals was a natural extension of that drive," she said. "At the same time, we are passionate foodies and have roots in the natural foods industry. We know that any solution – to be really viable – had to take into consideration people's desire for great-looking, better-tasting food that stays that way for a long time. We feel that with eatSafe Natural Food Wash and eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial, we have addressed both goals – from the farm to the kitchen table," she added.
An End-to-End Solution for Food & Beverage Producers
eatSafe Natural Food Wash and eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial are a two-part solution for safer, longer-lasting and better-tasting foods in both their raw and processed states – combining antimicrobial control of bacteria, yeasts and molds with antioxidant properties that improve sensory characteristics and preserve freshness.
eatSafe Natural Food Wash is a 7-part synergistic complex of organic, FDA-approved GRAS components designed for farms and food processing operations to ensure that products are free from foodborne pathogens. It is available in liquid or powder form. Tests at the Institute for Food Safety and Health at the Illinois Institute of Technology showed that it removed up to 99.999% (5-log) of bacteria, including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria and coliform bacteria from the surface of produce. Beyond pathogens, eatSafe Natural Food Wash is formulated to remove other potential contaminants, including pesticides, oils and wax, dust and soils. This ability to clean produce, along with the antioxidant functionality engineered into eatSafe Natural Food Wash to extend shelf life, enhances the appearance and flavor of foods.
eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial is a 5-part synergistic complex of organic, FDA-approved GRAS components designed to protect prepared/processed foods and beverages from bacteria, yeast and mold growth, and to enhance shelf life through several different mechanisms. It is also available in liquid or powder form. eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial offers the additional benefit of extending shelf life of prepared and processed foods up to 200% compared to test controls. A key benefit of eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial is its mild taste profile as a replacement for preservatives that affect flavor – both natural and synthetic.
Both eatSafe Natural Food Wash and eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial control pathogens via a cell electro-potential disruption mechanism. The efficacy of these products is derived from the synergistic combination of components. Unlike many other sanitizing and preservative products, eatFresh and eatSafe have a broad spectrum of efficacy, with the ability to handle different pathogens by varying use levels, rather than more traditional methods of combining different preservative types – making them very cost-effective when compared to other similar products on the market.
New Market Opportunities and Better Profitability for Producers
According to Paul M. Flowerman, President of P.L. Thomas, these new all-natural products open up new opportunities for consumer product development and can significantly reduce overall costs for all-natural foods and beverages. "We're very excited for the opportunity to partner with Grow Green Industries in launching and developing the market for these new products. The all-natural and clean label movements are among the hottest on the consumer scene right now – ranking above such stalwarts as reduced fat or sugar. Industry surveys show that 70% of consumers are interested in products that offer natural preservatives," he said. "Beyond this, the eatSafe and eatFresh offer an end-to-end solution for improving taste, quality and shelf life. The economic implications of vastly improved shelf life for all-natural products are enormous," he added. For more information, visit: http://www.plthomas.com.
Media Contact:
Mark Falconer
Sciencewerks
Voice: 407-412-9705
E-mail: Email
Company Contact:
Devin Stagg, Product Strategy
P.L. Thomas & Co. Inc.
Voice: 973-984-0900 x235
E-mail: Email
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