Timestrip Seafood will detect breaches in temperature during processing and transport, and is especially valuable with products such as crab meat and scallops, which are packaged in a reduced oxygen environment.
The indicators will provide a reliable indication when the food is stored above 3 °C – conditions in which they may develop Clostridium botulinum (C. bot) bacteria, responsible for food-borne botulism.
Key advantages of Timestrip Seafood are the lack of special requirements for transport or storage prior to activation, and their very long shelf-life. In addition, they are low cost and simple to use.
As most seafood processing is performed in a wet environment, Timestrip has developed a special, upgraded adhesive for the self-adhesive indicators used in seafood applications.
After consulting with the FDA, the company optimised the labelling on the front of the Timestrip Seafood indicator to make it very clear to processors when a breach event had occurred, and when the product should be discarded.
Timestrip is seeing strong demand for Timestrip Seafood from scallop, crab and similar sectors. An early customer is South Bend Products in Washington state, who are using the product on crab meat that is packaged in a reduced oxygen environment.
Timestrip has done extensive quality assurance checks to ensure that all FDA requirements are met for products used in connection with C. bot.
“We are delighted to have introduced this product ahead of Seafood Expo,” said Timestrip CEO Reuben Isbitsky. “It will make an important contribution to controlling C. bot borne infection in many seafood lines.”
Timestrip has activation tools available to automate the activation, conditioning and application process for the indicators, which are available in two formats: singles in packs of 100, or on rolls of 4000 units for ease of use by processors.
Timestrip will be showing its latest products at Seafood Expo, Boston, USA from 11–13 March at Booth 1388.