COX Technologies' Food Temperature Monitor Offers New Tool for Food Safety

COX Technologies (Belmont, NC) has announced the availability of the Vitsab time/temperature integrator tag (TTI), which can trace a perishable food's exposure to potentially damaging temperatures. Besides being a useful tool in predicting microbial growth in perishables at the supermarket, the technology also has application in food processing operations.

Dr. James Cox, president and CEO of the company made the announcement this week while attending the Food Safety-Risk Management conference in Chicago. "Vitsab represents the wave of the future in food temperature monitoring," said Cox.

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Vitsab's technology employs enzymatic color indicators that show the amount of temperature exposure of a stored or shipped temperature-sensitive product. The tags are easily activated at the beginning of monitoring by pressing the raised areas on the strip, which mixes non-toxic fluids within the internal pouches and feels like breaking air pockets in bubble-wrap packaging material. An initial color change from white to green indicates readiness. This distinct "trigger" or starting point is unique among chemical indicators, and keeps the tag totally inactive until the chemicals are allowed to mix.

The temperature indicating dots on the tag turn from green to yellow when the cumulative exposure to "out of safe range" temperatures has exceeded a known limit. Products will either have no dots turned to yellow (all are initially green at activation), or #1 dot only, or #1 and #2, or all three dots yellow. These conditions will tell with very high reliability the temperature exposure of the perishable product.

In each instance, the precise amount of temperature exposure can be associated with the point in time when the Vitsab indicator dots have changed color from green to yellow in succession.

HACCP Applications

Vitsab tags can be used to indicate arrival at certain critical points in a HACCP (defined food safety action plan) program. Usually, the successive stages in a three-dot indicator will indicate appropriate actions regarding food safety risk.

	Product safety risk is well below established guidelines for probable presence of acceptable level pathogens, based on growth conditions.
	Product safety risk has reached a defined point where action must be taken to minimize risk for remaining life of product: continued "safe shelf life" may be defined as "x" days under proper storage conditions, or certain HACCP-defined control steps should be taken.
	Product safety risk has reached a defined point where immediate action must be taken to minimize risk for remaining life of product. Continued "safe shelf life" may be defined as "y" days under proper storage conditions, or certain HACCP-defined control steps should be taken.
	Product should be discarded, as the product has an unacceptable risk of having exceeded pathogen concentrations above established regulatory concentrations.

The usefulness of the indicator tags is that the color change points in the sequence can be set precisely to change at pre-determined points in a HACCP program. These critical points are determined by the temperature conditions that affect the growth of key food-safety-involved microorganisms, and incorporate knowledge of the initial baseline concentration of these organisms. The tags can predict with very high accuracy the current level of microorganism concentrations given a certain assumption of a starting baseline.

Transit Applications

Vitsab indicators can also be placed on representative containers of perishables, traveling with those containers to indicate the temperature exposure of the entire shipment. Where monitoring must proceed all along the cold chain from supplier to consumer, indicators are placed on all individual product containers. They can be configured to work internally in pallet loads or inside of individual containers.

Shippers of perishables can attach the tags to cartons or pallets before shipping. The indicator dots on the tag turn color (from green to yellow) if the time/temperature exposure surpasses a pre-programmed safe limit during shipment and/or subsequent storage. The tags can be "tuned" to monitor different commodities. Chill or freezer indicator tags are available in time durations from one to 120 days.

COX Technologies produces a broad range of products that monitor temperature and other variables in the transport and storage of sensitive commodities, including food, pharmaceuticals and other perishables.

For more information contact COX Technologies, 69 McAdenville Rd., Belmont, NC 28012. Tel: 704-825-8146; Fax: 704-825-4498, 5128.