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Crystal Diagnostics launches food safety technology
[October 27, 2011]

Crystal Diagnostics launches food safety technology


Oct 27, 2011 (Daily Camera - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Broomfield-based Crystal Diagnostics on Wednesday launched a technology that, officials say, could potentially help in the prevention of some food-borne illnesses.



The liquid crystal-based diagnostics test is designed to simultaneously detect multiple -- and possibly deadly -- pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella and listeria in less than 30 minutes. Such a test could be extremely vital in a time when food processors and regulators alike are looking to increase food safety efforts, officials say.

"The technology, and particularly as it's related to the food business, is of stunning significance," said Paul Repetto, chief executive officer of Crystal Diagnostics.


Crystal Diagnostics unveiled its liquid crystal-based diagnostics test at a press briefing held at Kent State University, the Ohio-based institution where the technology was developed in partnership with Northeast Ohio Medical University five years earlier. Crystal Diagnostics is the exclusive licensee of the schools' patented liquid crystal biosensor technologies.

Crystal Diagnostics hopes to commercialize the technology in the form of providing test kits to food producers and processors of all sizes, Repetto said.

He added his firm has been in discussions with several undisclosed companies that have agreed to bring in the equipment and run the tests in tandem with other existing testing efforts -- some of which can take hours or days. If all goes as planned, Crystal Diagnostics could sell its first product by the third quarter of next year, he said.

"We will focus on providing a very powerful new tool for processors to test with, while at the same time supporting what we believe will be an increase in the number and types of tests that might be required," he said.

The vision for the company's MultiPath System is grand -- Repetto lauded the potential uses in not only food safety, but also in the areas of water, national security and medicine.

___ (c)2011 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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