Groundbreaking Line of All-Natural Food Safety and Shelf-Life Enhancement Solutions

Grow Green Industries to Launch Groundbreaking Line of All-Natural Food Safety and Shelf-Life Enhancement Solutions at IFT12 in Las Vegas

P.L. Thomas & Co. Will Manage Market Development Efforts for
eatSafe™ Natural Food Wash and eatFresh™ Natural Antimicrobial in the United States and Canada

Morristown, NJ - Grow Green Industries, Inc. (Lake Forest, CA) and P.L. Thomas & Co, Inc. (Morristown, NJ) announced today that they will introduce a new line of all-natural food safety and shelf-life enhancement products at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo (IFT12) in Las Vegas in late June of this year. eatSafe™ Natural Food Wash and eatFresh™ Natural Antimicrobial are the result of a multi-year research effort into effective end-to-end alternatives to chemically-based food sanitizers and preservatives that will also enhance the taste, sensory profiles and shelf-life of fresh produce, seafood and poultry as well as prepared and processed foods. The new patent-pending products are synergistic complexes of GRAS and organic components that provide antimicrobial/antioxidant functionality and will allow food and beverage producers to offer the ‘cleaner' labels that industry surveys show consumers increasingly demand. Grow Green Industries has conducted extensive testing on these ingredients that show, for example, that eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial in dip, sauce and soup applications proved a more effective shelf-life enhancer than sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate, while improving the overall flavor profiles of the tested formulas. In third party lab tests, eatSafe Natural Food Wash removed 99.999% of bacteria and over 98% of pesticide residues from fresh produce in tests - making it a suitable replacement for chlorine-based sanitizers. Grow Green Industries and P.L. Thomas will be introducing the new products to the food & beverage industry at Booth 1335 at IFT12.

According to Mareya Ibrahim, Founder and CEO of Grow Green Industries, the drive behind the creation of these new all-natural products was a desire to address the food safety issue in a natural, sustainable way. "While we are making progress in the area of reducing foodborne illness in the United States, it is still a major issue. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans - or 48 million people - gets sick from the food they eat. It's a problem that is worthy of our attention. And we felt that an all-natural solution that avoided potentially harmful chemicals was a natural extension of that drive," she said. "At the same time, we are passionate foodies and have roots in the natural foods industry. We know that any solution - to be really viable - had to take into consideration people's desire for great looking, better tasting food that stays that way for a long time. We feel that with eatSafe Natural Food Wash and eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial, we have addressed both goals - from the farm to the kitchen table," she added.

An End-to-End Solution for Food & Beverage Producers
eatSafe Natural Food Wash and eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial are a two-part solution for safer, longer-lasting and better tasting foods in both their raw and cooked or processed states - combining antimicrobial control of bacteria, yeasts and molds with antioxidant properties that improve sensory characteristics and preserve freshness.

eatSafe™ Natural Food Wash is a 7-part synergistic complex of organic, FDA-approved GRAS components designed for farms and food processing operations to ensure that products are free from foodborne pathogens. It is available in liquid or powder form. Tests at the Institute for Food Safety and Health at the Illinois Institute of Technology showed that it removed up to 99.999% (5-log) of bacteria, including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria and coliform bacteria from the surface of produce. Beyond pathogens, eatSafe Natural Food Wash is formulated to remove other potential contaminants from the growing process, including pesticides, oils and wax, dust and soils. This ability to clean produce, along with the antioxidant functionality engineered into eatSafe Natural Food Wash to extend shelf life, enhances the appearance and flavor of foods. The wash can be applied by dip, spray or soak methods at a broad range of concentrations based on contaminant loading with no special handling requirements. It is biodegradable and offers no impact on environmental processes.

eatFresh™ Natural Antimicrobial is a 5-part synergistic complex of organic, FDA-approved GRAS components designed to protect prepared/processed foods and beverages from bacteria, yeast and mold growth, and to enhance shelf-life through several different mechanisms. It is also available in liquid or powder form. eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial offers the additional benefit of extending shelf-life of prepared and processed foods up to 200% compared to test controls. Industry testing has shown that incorporates easily into a broad range of products including beverages, dips, soups and sauces, meals and prepared foods, deli salads, baked goods, fruit preparations and confectionary. The products can also be used on seafood and poultry. A key benefit of eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial is its mild taste profile as a replacement for preservatives that affect flavor - both natural and synthetic. The products are safe to handle, with suggested usage rates from .1% up to 2% depending on the application.

Both eatSafe Natural Food Wash and eatFresh Natural Antimicrobial control pathogens via a cell electro-potential disruption mechanism. The efficacy of these products is derived from the synergistic combination of components. Unlike many other sanitizing and preservative products, eatFresh and eatSafe have a broad spectrum of efficacy, with the ability to handle different pathogens by varying use levels, rather than more traditional methods of combining different preservative types - making them very cost-effective when compared to similar products on the market.

New Market Opportunities and Better Profitability for Producers
According to Paul M. Flowerman, President of P.L. Thomas, these all-natural products open up new opportunities for consumer product development and can significantly reduce overall costs for all-natural foods and beverages. "We're very excited for the opportunity to partner with Grow Green Industries in launching and developing the market for these new products. The all-natural and clean label movements are among the hottest on the consumer scene right now - ranking above such stalwarts as reduced fat or sugar. Industry surveys show that 70% of consumers are interested in products that offer natural solutions to preservation," he said. "Beyond this, eatSafe and eatFresh offer an end-to-end solution for improving taste, quality and shelf-life. The economic implications of significantly improved shelf-life for all-natural products are enormous," he added.

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About Grow Green Industries

Grow Green Industries, Inc. is a California-based company that innovates solutions to maximize food safety and shelf-life extension based on the power of plant science. Grow Green Industries is the creator of eatFresh™ Natural Antimicrobial, a patent-pending preservative that naturally extends shelf life by inhibiting bacteria, yeast and mold while enhancing flavor and appearance and eatSafe™ Natural Food Wash, a patent-pending product that cleans raw ingredients of bacteria, soil, pesticide residue and other contaminants. Grow Green Industries is also the creator of eatCleaner®, a consumer line of all natural food wash and wipes that helps consumers enjoy cleaner, safer, longer lasting food. All Grow Green Industries products are manufactured in the U.S.A. using kosher certified, OMRI-approved ingredients. The company is a certified Woman Owned Business.

About P.L. Thomas
P.L. Thomas, Co. Inc., a New Jersey-based ingredient supplier and marketer, offers more than 60 years of innovation in sourcing, developing, and commercializing natural, reliable, value-added raw materials for the food, beverage, dietary supplement and cosmeceuticals markets. PLT specializes in clinically-supported, science based nutraceuticals, fruit and botanical extracts, and natural colors, preservatives, and flavors, with ingredients covering a wide range of application and condition-specific areas. Contact us today or click here to request a sample!