CLX Investment Company Announces Zonda, Inc.'s Response to E. Coli Outbreak With Introduction of QuikAlert(TM) Food Safety Product 9:35a ET January 17, 2007 (Market Wire) CLX Investment Company, Inc. (OTCBB: CLXN), a diversified investment fund, today announced that portfolio investment Zonda, Incorporated is responding to the recent widespread E. coli bacteria (Escherichia coli) outbreak in U.S. fast food restaurants with the introduction of QuikAlert(TM), a new addition to its food safety product line.
QuikAlert(TM) was designed as a first line of defense in detecting food borne pathogens directly from a food product before it is packaged or shipped. Typically, perishable food products are packaged and shipped before pathogen test results are available. QuikAlert(TM) can detect these potentially dangerous microorganisms in minutes versus hours or days.
A recent outbreak of E. coli bacteria has sickened scores of people at restaurants in several states. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 71 E. coli cases in five states, most in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania plus two in Delaware and one in South Carolina. Meanwhile, nearly three-dozen people have fallen ill with symptoms consistent with E. coli infection and authorities are investigating a case in which several people became ill in Minnesota. Investigation by the CDC indicated that shredded lettuce was the most likely source of the outbreak in most of the restaurants. Because multiple restaurants were involved during the same time period, contamination of the lettuce likely occurred before reaching the restaurants. E. coli linked to bagged spinach also killed three people and sickened 206 others in 26 states and Canada this fall.
QuikAlert(TM) is a screening tool that enables food companies to detect potentially dangerous levels of microorganisms. A provided swab is used to sample a food product. After 20 minutes, a reagent is added to the tip of the swab. After 2 minutes, a positive test will result in a purple color on the tip of the swab, indicating a presence of potentially dangerous microorganisms.
"E. coli infection is clearly a serious illness, and as recent new reports on the outbreak linked to fast food restaurants indicate, there are few issues as vital to the success of the service industry than food safety and the health of its customers. Quick detection of food borne pathogens protects the health of consumers and can potentially save millions of dollars to food growers and food processing companies. QuikAlert(TM) is a screening tool that can deliver these desired results quickly," said Laurie J. Oleksiewicz, president of Zonda, Incorporated.
According to the CDC, the E. coli infection can cause a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), in which the red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys fail. About 8% of persons whose diarrheal illness is severe enough that they seek medical care develop this complication. In the United States, HUS is the principal cause of acute kidney failure in children, and most cases of HUS are caused by E. coli.