Hi Jodi,
I found the following new article from 10/7
Tuesday October 7 1:05 PM EDT
Company Press Release
E. Coli Solution Close At Hand
SALT LAKE CITY--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 7, 1997--Tuesday, Cyclopss Corp. (NASDAQ:OZON) based here, and Schlyer Machinery Co., a private company based in Wilson, N.Y., jointly announced that they signed a letter of intent to develop and manufacture a system that could be used by food processors to kill microbial contaminates including Esherichia coli (E. coli), Listeria and Salmonella, as well as water-born microbes such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
The system uses ozone, one of the most powerful disinfectants and oxidants and is more effective in eliminating contaminates than conventional disinfectants such as chlorine. In fact, ozone kills E. coli more than 3,000 times faster than chlorine. Further, ozone leaves behind no chemical residue.
Ozone is a form of oxygen that has three atoms per molecule, rather than the typical two atoms found in oxygen. After used, it decomposes quickly and becomes ordinary oxygen again.
Said Bill Stoddard, Cyclopss' president, ''We've used ozone for hospital disinfection for years. It wasn't until food processors were given the green light to use ozone that we started putting our technology to work for food products.''
Ozone was recently given the status of ''generally recognized as safe'' or ''GRAS.'' This GRAS status allows food processors to use ozone right now in their washing, handling and packaging processes.
Because ozone's life is rather short (only about 20 minutes), users of ozone must produce it on-site and only when needed. Cyclopss has harnessed the molecule and the process can be modified and tailored to the particular needs of the food industry.
Explained Stoddard, ''The basic system under development is similar to a sophisticated car wash: ozonated water is sprayed over, under and around the food at all points as a conveyor system moves the foods through.
''Because ozone is produced artificially using oxygen and electricity at the site of use and converts to oxygen at the site of use, we are able to do away with the hazards associated with the manufacture and transportation of substances like chlorine. Moreover, once ozone does its job, it leaves nothing behind on the food, creating a healthier food product for the consumer.''
Ozone is no stranger to certain products consumed daily; it's in virtually all bottled water and is used by nearly 200 municipal drinking water plants in the United States.
And, it's been used extensively in France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Scandinavia and Israel in applications ranging from air purification and water treatment to controlling post harvest decay and storage of meat, fruit and cheese.
In other news, the companies are also jointly developing an ozone decontamination system for laboratory animal cages used in medical and pharmaceutical research. Says Stoddard, ''In both cases the job of ozone is the same: we're using it to wash all contaminates from surfaces, kill all microbes present and leave nothing behind but oxygen.''
Cyclopss Corp. is one of the nation's leading developers of ozone application processes and technologies for industry. Schlyer Machinery Co. is a leading manufacturer of spray washer-disinfectors.
NOTE TO EDITORS: White Papers on Ozone (without ''techno-jargon'') have been prepared by professional writers and may be used as backgrounders by interested reporters. And, instructions on how to pull a photo of bacteria off the World Wide Web can be obtained. Phone Melinda Ballard at 512/894-0508 for assistance.
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Contact:
Melinda Ballard, for Cyclopss, 512/894-0508
or
Goodman Media, New York
Tom Goodman, 212/576-2700 |
