eMerge Interactive, Inc. (Nasdaq: EMRG), a technology company providing individual-animal tracking, food safety and supply-procurement services to the US$40b US beef-production industry, and Excel Corporation, a US beef processor and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cargill Incorporated, yesterday [Tuesday] announced an agreement to integrate eMerge’s VerifEYE(TM) meat inspection system into Excel’s beef operations to finalize specifications for commercialization.
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“We are extremely excited to have Excel, the recognized leader in the beef and pork packing industry, agree to help eMerge with final, in-plant development of its VerifEYE (TM) system,” stated Scott Mathews, eMerge’s president and chief operating officer. “The system is designed to help detect even minute traces of the organic contamination that can harbour such bacteria as E. coli 0157:H7 – bacteria that can survive even the aggressive pathogen interventions currently in place at beef-processing plants.”
“Extensive, university-controlled trials have already demonstrated that VerifEYE(tm) could help packers minimize outbreaks of potentially deadly bacterial infections,” Mathews said. “We’re pleased that Excel has decided to help us integrate this technology into the production line – in essence, transforming our prototypes into a commercial system that will make whole-carcass scanning virtually automatic and practical.”
“We hope that this technology will further enhance food safety,” stated Bill Buckner, Excel Corporation’s President. “Our policy all along has been to use the best technology to produce the safest products possible, and we believe eMerge’s VerifEYE(tm) meat inspection system has great potential. We’re proud to be playing a pioneering role in this continuing drive to ensure beef safety by integrating this additional verification system for evaluation.”
“VerifEYE(tm) is the first tool of its kind to identify the presence of trace levels of organic contamination at the commercial level,” Mathews said. “This device – a real-time, electronically controlled optical instrument – provides workers with detailed roadmaps of contaminated areas that must be removed from freshly harvested carcasses, as well as of contamination-free areas that can be spared.”
“By agreeing to help us integrate VerifEYE(tm) into the production line, Excel will be making an invaluable contribution to ensure consumer confidence in our beef supply,” Mathews said. “Excel’s willingness to participate in this final stage of commercialization should not be surprising,” he added. “When it comes to quality control and food safety, Excel has always been one of the most progressive, innovative and aggressively pro-active companies in the US This agreement is just one more example of its commitment to delivering beef products of the highest quality.”
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By GlobalDataThe VerifEYE(tm) technology was developed and patented by scientists at Iowa State University and the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA and eMerge Interactive holds exclusive rights to its commercialization.
“Additional potential applications for this technology beyond the meat-packing plant include hand-scan units for use in facilities ranging from restaurants to hospitals and daycare centers,” continued Mathews. “This technology has tremendous potential for helping to improve the safety of other protein sources – including pork and poultry – both here in the US and abroad.”
