When Micro Identification Technologies Inc., developer of the revolutionary MIT 1000 laser-based microbial identification system, indicated earlier that they were on track to begin quantity deliveries of their system in 4Q of 2010, they added something of an admonition. MIT’s Chairman, Michael Brennan, said that the company needs “to increase our system support and microbiological research capabilities in conjunction with supporting the food industry’s obvious safety requirements.” It was a way of saying that, although the future is bright, the company has more work to do.
There’s little question of a growing interest in their product, since it provides companies and agencies a much quicker and more cost effective way of identifying potentially harmful bacterial contamination before it spreads. To translate interest into dollars, the company is moving forward with plans for financing and production.
Today, with food safety concerns becoming front page news, MIT’s growth preparations are well under way. Underpinning these moves is the company’s important equity placement agreement along with their recent manufacturing contract with OSI Optoelectronics to produce its systems. MIT has already produced the MIT 1000 in limited quantities and has had several distinguished users, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Japanese Ministry of Food Safety, University Putra Malaysia, and various local contract laboratories. Results have been encouraging enough to begin working towards scaled up production.
With the FDA being given broader powers to oversee the way food is grown, harvested, processed, and delivered, the timing couldn’t be better for Micro Identification Technologies. The Washington Post recently noted “These actions follow a wave of food-borne illnesses over the past three years, involving products as varied as spinach, peanuts, cookie dough and meat, which has shaken consumer confidence and made the issue a priority for congressional leaders and the White House. Food illnesses sicken one in four Americans and kill 5,000 each year, according to government statistics. Tainted food has cost the food industry billions of dollars in recalls, lost sales and legal expenses. Under the legislation, the FDA will get new enforcement powers and be able to impose beefed-up civil and criminal penalties. One provision allows the FDA to declare food ‘adulterated’ simply if the grower or manufacturer has failed to follow safety standards, regardless of whether the food is actually tainted.”
For more information on the company, visit www.micro-identification.com.
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