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Uniform Strategy for Decontamination of Stored Food

Award Information
Agency: Department of Agriculture
Branch: N/A
Contract: 2005-33610-15522
Agency Tracking Number: 2005-00233
Amount: $80,000.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 2005
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
7607 Eastmark Drive, Suite 102
College Station, TX 77840
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Mark Flusche
 Research Associate
 (979) 693-0017
 mark.flusche@lynntech.com
Business Contact
 Mark Flusche
Title: Research Associate
Phone: (979) 693-0017
Email: mark.flusche@lynntech.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

The impact of acute and chronic disease via exposure to pathogens and chemical contaminants in food as well as financial losses incurred from such contaminants is significant. In an effort to increase the safety of foods, many intervention strategies have been developed, though none have been successful for uniform reduction of diverse food-derived chemical and biological contaminants in foods. Ozone (O3) has been shown to be a safe and effective decontaminating agent in many post-harvest and food processing applications and has grown in popularity due to the lack of chemical persistence, the broad susceptibility of organisms, and the ability to synthesize the disinfectant on-demand. Despite the promising economic and decontamination capabilities of ozone as a food decontaminant, the generation and uniform delivery of O3 gas throughout grains and oilseeds remains a challenge. The uniform decontamination process described here in offers unparalleled advantages over existing post-harvest treatment methods currently available. The Phase I research effort will prove that this process is capable of rapidly reducing significant populations of a wide range of naturally-occurring, stored food contaminants while focusing on user safety, food quality, and system flexibility. With the decontaminating agent generated on-site/on-demand, this treatment process can be easily transferred to rural agricultural settings for extended periods of time.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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