The continuing rise in FDA’s Safety Alerts and Recalls have resulted scattered consumer confidence in food manufacturer’s ability to delivery safe, healthy food products.  And, it is across the board, from dairy products to fruit products.  One continuing area of deep concern to consumers is the spread of pathogens such as Listeria, Salmonella and E. coli in prepared foods.

“Foodborne illnesses continue to be of deep concern to the food processing industry.  Processers continue to be cognizant of their production facility’s so as to avoid any foods being contaminated with bacteria, parasites, or viruses that can cause foodborne illnesses.  Most contamination occurs in food processing,” says Gil Bakal, A&B Ingredients’ Managing Director.

Bakal notes that A&B Ingredients’ CytoGuard LATM continues to prove its worth as a powerful antimicrobial in combating pathogens in the meat processing.  Based on Lauric Arginate, a derivate of lauric acid, l-arginine and ethanol -- all naturally occurring substances -- CytoGuard LA was specifically developed by A&B Ingredients for use in ready to eat (RTE) processed meat and poultry products. 

“Studies continue to prove CytoGuard LA effectiveness at significantly reducing bacterial levels in a wide range of food products by altering the cell membranes of the microbes, thus preventing their growth,” says Bakal.

He notes that the efficacy of CytoGuard LA is not affected by pH and has a wide spectrum of activity and functions on nearly all bacteria.

“It is particularly effective against Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, yeast, molds and lactobacillus, just to name a few,” states Bakal.

CytoGuard LA also effectively improves food safety and reducing bacteria levels of refrigerated food products, all types of prepared salads, as well as ready-to-eat fresh cuts of meat and poultry.  Because it is used at low levels, it typically does not impact flavor, color, texture or pH of the product.

Among the benefits of CytoGuard LA are:

• Stable up to one year
• Stable in pH ranges 3-9
• Stable to heating and freezing
• Concentrates in the water phase of products
• At typical usage levels it does not impart any off flavors to most food products
• It is a clear liquid and will not affect the appearance of food products

The preferred method of application of CytoGuard LA is through A&B Ingredients’ SLIC™ (Spayed Lethality in Container) technology.  SLIC is a patent-pending process designed to improve the safety of ready to eat (RTE) processed meat products against foodborne contaminants.  But unlike its conventional rivals, SLIC is based on introducing an antimicrobial into the vacuum packaging of the RTE meat products before, or as the product is inserted, using the force of the vacuum to spread the antimicrobial purge.

Bakal added that the active components in CytoGuard LA have been proven a safe and effective alternative to conventional processing treatments.  He said, “Full toxicology studies and research have been conducted on the active component in CytoGuard LA and were found to be a non-toxic compound.  The active compound in CytoGuard LA is metabolized by the body very rapidly and broken down into its natural building block components.”

Founded in 1990, A&B Ingredients is a leading developer, marketer and distributor of high quality natural food ingredients.  Among the products offered are pea proteins, antioxidants, antimicrobials and natural and artificial flavors.  Based on a tradition of research and development, A&B’s focus is to discover unique flavors and ingredients that enable its customers to create value-added products. The company is committed to working, as a partner, to develop prototypes of new beverages and improved food products.  A&B maintains full applications labs, pilot plant facilities with consumer testing capabilities, and provides technical sales and marketing, importing, distribution and applications development/technical services.

For more information, contact A&B Ingredients at marketing@abingredients.com or visit A&B’s new website at www.abingredients.com.  You can also follow A&B Ingredients on Twitter at www.twitter.com/abingredients and on Facebook at abingredients.