PURE Bioscience, Inc. announced progress in development of a SDC-based antimicrobial for direct food contact. The company is testing formulations to be used as a rinse or processing aid on produce, poultry, and meats. PURE initiated this project in December 2013, and is working with Dr. James Marsden, a noted food safety scientist and expert at Kansas State University, on the testing and preparation of the submissions for authorization to the FDA and USDA.

The company expects to make the submissions early in the calendar second quarter 2014, and estimates that the authorization process could take up to six months, or calendar fourth quarter 2014. The company's SDC-based antimicrobial disinfectant for food contact surfaces, PURE Hard Surface, in extensive testing in food processing plants and restaurants, has demonstrated superior effectiveness in breadth and speed of pathogen kill, and therefore the reduction of food safety risk. The product also provides 24-hour residual kill and has a favorable safety profile.

In developing a direct food application, the company's expectations are that, because of SDC's properties, modes of action and non-toxicity, SDC could revolutionize the industry by proving to have superior efficacy to interventions and processing aids currently in the market. A critical issue for the food industry is the growing number of product recalls and food borne illness outbreaks due to the presence of pathogens like salmonella and E.coli, especially in produce and poultry. In addition, there is growing evidence that these bacteria can build up a resistance to many antimicrobials in use on food products.

Based on experience to date, bacteria have not been able to build up a resistance to PURE's SDC. The company estimates that in the U.S. the potential available market for direct food contact antimicrobials is in excess of $1.0 billion.