Startup for detecting food pathogens wins IFT FIRST pitch competition
Kansas City The Food Disruption Challenge Pitch Competition was won by SnapDNA, which was announced on July 21 during the Institute of Food Technologists’ FIRST virtual conference.
During the innovation challenge, entrepreneurs of startups that were ready for financing made their projects known to a group of professionals in the field. Prior to the event, IFT provided coaching and pitch preparation support to participating startups. SnapDNA ultimately won a $25,000 cash prize.
The business, located in Mountain View, California, is creating an independent analytical tool that can be used on-site and is intended to replace all laboratory tests for food pathogens. The technology seeks to minimise manufacturing costs for food makers while reducing the frequency and intensity of outbreaks.
Tom Jacobs, vice president of sales and marketing at SnapDNA, claimed that antiquated diagnostic techniques are no longer useful for tracking contamination. They can’t tell the difference between a single aberrant cell and a widespread contamination, and analysis in a specialised lab off-site can frequently take up to a week. With its 20-minute automated on-site examination, SnapDNA’s quick detection method saves businesses millions of dollars in operational costs and reduces their risk of recalls.
“The exposure increases with the amount of time it takes to identify the source of contamination,” Mr. Jacobs. Processors must pay an average of $10 million in direct costs alone for recalls that involve tracking contamination to its source. One recall may cost more over $100 million when indirect expenses like missed sales and reputational harm are taken into account.
To speed up the identification of listeria in the firm’s production plants, the company already collaborates with PepsiCo, Inc. Additionally, the USDA—which undertook a cooperative research and development arrangement assisted in the development of several of SnapDNA’s early procedures—selected it as the next-generation food testing platform.
According to Mr. Jacobs, there are two things that set the company apart from other startups in the food pathogen detection industry.
“The most important one is that they haven’t been able to meet every need of the food industry,”
He stated. “The sample sizes are the most important prerequisite for food testing. No one else has access to significant food industry samples in the competitive quick test environment.
The capacity of SnapDNA to identify living cells is another consideration.
“Irregular false positive results result if you are unable to distinguish between live and dead cells,” Mr. Jacobs stated. Only living cells can be detected by our technique. We use a patented technique for it.
With the $25,000 prize, SnapDNA plans to use it as funding for their coordinated deployment across production facilities for multiple target organisations.
Berkeley, California-based Trophic and Rocky Mount, North Carolina-based Ripe Revival were two other finalists in the innovation competition. Fruits and vegetables’ nutrients are extracted by Ripe Revival, which produce final goods and useful ingredients. Trophic is creating sustainable protein using seaweed as a source.