€2.2 million raised to tackle foodborne illnesses

Everyone has suffered the effects of food poisoning at some point in their life, and it’s safe to say we all hope to never experience it again. Not only does it cause unpleasant symptoms, it can also be fatal, causing 420,000 deaths every year.

French microorganism manufacturer Novolyze has raised €2.2 million (about AU$3.4 million) in an attempt to improve process validation for food manufacturers and stem the number of cases of foodborne illnesses. Private investors, family offices and business angels were responsible for €1.2 million of the money raised, and the rest came from public research programs and grants.

The money is being put towards accelerating the commercial development of the company’s ready-to-use Surronov range of surrogate microorganisms in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Novolyze argues that its product is a more effective method of ensuring food safety compared to traditional sampling-based control methods. Since pathogens only appear sporadically, spot checks are unlikely to detect them before the food is approved for public consumption.

The company’s non-pathogenic, ready-to-use microorganisms mimic the behaviour of food pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli to test the safety of a food product after the decontamination process. The dry form of the surrogate microorganisms can be easily manufactured in industrial quantities and is suitable for a variety of food products, such as milk powder, flour, meat, fish, pastries and juice. It can also be easily used in factories to test or enhance manufacturing processes and has a shelf life of several months.

“We are delighted to announce today further investment from our historical shareholders and by new investors, who have seen our innovative approach and our growth potential in our target markets,” said Karim-Franck Khinouche, Novolyze’s CEO and founder. “Our ready-to-use products represent a major competitive advantage, as we are able to offer effective control systems tailored to upstream risk processes in the agrifood industry and to enhance consumer protection even further, against the backdrop of the current focus on food safety.”

With food safety becoming a major public health challenge, Novolyze hopes this injection of funding will not only expand its global market, but also validate food safety control processes and reduce the risk of microbiological contamination.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/AndreyPopov