Nemis Technologies Ltd., a diagnostic startup based in Switzerland, announced today that its N-Light Listeria monocytogenes diagnostic test designed for food safety has officially earned the prestigious AOAC Performance Tested Method SM(PTM) Certificate from the AOAC Research Institute in the US, the industry’s leading product certification organization.
There’s a growing awareness among consumers and food producers about the critical issue of food safety. Microbial contamination of food causes expensive product recalls to the industry and is the source of food-borne infections affecting more than 600 million people and resulting in more than 400’000 deaths each year. There is a clear and increasing need for improved testing and monitoring of the environment in the food chain, however, current detection methods fall short from offering an easy-to-use, rapid, on-site and cost-effective solution due to their dependency on centralized laboratories.
The groundbreaking AquaSpark platform technology behind NEMIS N-Light tests offers a unique and powerful alternative to existing diagnostic methods providing food producers and processors with the first reliable on-site method that conveniently enables rapid lab-free testing of work surfaces at any point in the supply chain.
Arnaud Muller, the company’s CEO, stated: “We are extremely proud to receive the validation of our N-Light Listeria monocytogenes kit from AOAC in the food safety arena. At NEMIS, the team aspires to create a safe food value chain so none of the most vulnerable consumers will be exposed to unsafe products. Thanks to our game-changing innovation, thousands of food producers and processors worldwide determined to maintain high-quality standards and protect their brands from damaging product recalls, will be able to improve the safety and quality of their products while driving cost- savings. We will be launching very soon in Switzerland and in Europe.”.
Dr. Mario Hupfeld, the company’s CSO added: “Our goal was to develop and validate a Listeria monocytogenes environmental monitoring protocol that provides food customers in the least amount of time possible with the information they require to implement an effective seek and destroy approach without delay. Our revolutionary protocol identifies Listeria monocytogenes with matchless sensitivity and specificity, yielding results from an environmental swab overnight. This protocol from sampling collection to results reading and interpretation can be performed by anyone at any time and on-site thanks to our innovative biosafety cap”.