Every year, roughly 48 million people - one out of every six Americans – is sickened from foodborne diseases. Among them, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from their infections. -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The numbers continue to climb, and the recent hepatitis outbreak in the western U.S. is a chilling example.
To date, 122 people in eight states--including five children under 18--have contracted hepatitis A infections in the outbreak, which stems from a frozen berry mix sold primarily at Costco markets, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
As of June 25, more than 50 of these CDC-confirmed cases are people who have been hospitalized after contracting the infection from digesting or coming in contact with Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix. Townsend Farms, Inc. of Fairview, Oregon distributed the product that has sickened people from ages two to 84 years old since late March.
Nevertheless, the advancing technology designed to improve food safety does not come without a price tag.
Together with
MichBio, the institute sponsored a conference at the Fetzer Center in Kalamazoo on June 19. The symposium was designed to educate venture capitalists on the topic--to let them know about how food protection technology can be developed and used commercially to change the world of food protection--with the proper funding.
Panels of experts in the field introduced new food protection technologies to the group and detailed the path that can take them from concept to marketplace. It was a also a tool for inventors and developers to hone their presentation skills before taking funding requests to venture groups.
Ronald L. Meeusen, Ph.D., of
Cultivian Ventures, LP in Carmel, Ind., in his presentation told the capital-seekers present how to get their food technologies and companies noticed, “Securing Venture Capital Funding for Food Safety Innovations.”
“We know that only one in 100 opportunities are funded,” he said. “Most are weeded out right away to save time, and we review the rest very carefully.”
When it comes to food safety technologies, only the presenting companies and concepts that stand out in the crowd will make it past the five-minute elevator speech to be considered for venture capital investment. The ones with highest areas of interest for food safety investing, Meeusen said.
He posed potential questions to help those in the crowd seeking venture capital funding to develop, market or expand their products and ideas.
“What is the market opportunity? What size is the market – and where? Who is your team and who are your competitors? Why will your team win?” Meeusen said. “What is your advantage? How will you protect it?”
Determining the major risks and having a solid advance plan to mitigate is crucial, according to Meeusen. So is knowing all of the regulatory risks and expenses (if any) involved, having a grasp on the patent landscape, and a prediction for investors.
“How will investors get liquid?” he wanted to know. “How long will that take? Remember that you are up against 99 other opportunities.”
John D. Hopkins has a product that he is nearly certain will pass these requirements with flying colors and give the food safety industry a major facelift. Hopkins, the CEO and Medical Research Director for
Medical Innovative Products in Rives Junction, is already manufacturing it on a small scale, and hopes to eventually take this product global.
“We have developed an antimicrobial material to build cabinets with,” he explained. “Most cupboards are made of particle board covered with plastic laminate – and that’s the perfect environment for bacteria, fungus, and viruses. These are materials that grow these pathogens.”
Along with the germ-reducing cabinetry, Medical Innovative Products has developed copper door handles and other pathogen reducing products.
“Door knobs are very important, too,” he said. “Why wash your hands in a public restroom or doctor’s office just to touch a dirty doorknob full of germs?”
Not only do the materials resist germ growth, Hopkins said, they kill some of them on the surface. Originally developed for use in hospitals and other health care institutions, Hopkins believes that this technology is also a natural necessity for the food industry.
“From food manufacturers and distributors, to restaurants and cafeterias, grocery stores--anywhere that food is handled,” he said. “It was developed for hospitals originally, because hospitals have more germs floating around than anywhere else.”
He backed his claim, citing statistics from the studies he has gathered in medical research.
“Right now, one in 20 people get an infection while they are hospitalized and twenty percent of them die,” he said. “That’s 400,000 people dying every year from hospital-acquired infections. So if I can capture the attention of hospitals, all of these other groups will follow their lead.”
Hopkins has about a dozen employees working in the Jackson manufacturing facility, crafting the germ-resistant materials, but hopes to grow his business substantially once he secures the capital to bring the cost down and expand all over Michigan and into other states.
“We are targeting venture groups with a focus on the prevention of food pathogens,” he said. “If this falls into place, I’m talking about at least 500 more jobs (in Jackson alone) within in the next year and a half.
"And that’s just here--this will spill out across the country and change the face of food safety for many different types of institutions. In the United States and in other countries, too, I hope.”
Kelle Barr is a Portage-based freelance journalist. She can be reached at Kellebarr@gmail.com or on LinkedIn.
Photos by Tim Wojtyniak of field beyond photography.