Food safety validation and verification requirements are commonly met by applying pathogen testing methods based on finished product sampling. Nevertheless, these methods are not sufficient to guarantee food safety, due to the sporadic nature of foodborne pathogens, and do not allow to get real-time data reporting and analysis, which create delays to take effective corrective actions if a problem is identified. Given these limitations, there is a need for the development of new methodologies to ensure that finished products meet food safety objectives.
It is estimated that approximately 420,000 individuals die every year after having eaten contaminated food. The overwhelming majority of foodborne illnesses are linked to low prevalence bacteria that often go undetected, such as Salmonella, E. Coli, and Listeria. Keep these microbes under control is a critical priority and societal challenge for the food industry.
The project is focussed on development of Novolyze FSG Platform, a cloud-based software solution to monitor and verify in real-time kill step efficiency. Project also includes the development of an extension specifically focus on the cleaning and sanitation operations monitoring.