011025 SureBeam Debuts Food Safety Service CenterOctober 20, 2001Chicago - SureBeam Corporation -- innovator of the electron beam technology that safely removes dangerous bacteria from food -- introduced its new Chicago Service Center, the nation's first SureBeam facility capable of processing food simultaneously with SureBeam electron beam and x-ray technology. “SureBeam's newest facility doubles SureBeam processing capacity and gives greater processing flexibility,” says Larry Oberkfell, SureBeam's president and CEO. “A key innovation is its capability to use high-volume e-beam and x-ray scanning systems for eliminating the threat of harmful food borne bacteria simultaneously, so as to accommodate differences in product size and shape.” Chicago is a strategic, national hub in domestic food production and processing, and Illinois is the nation's second-largest exporter of agricultural products. With a processing capacity in excess of 250 million pounds annually, SureBeam's new Chicago service center will be used to process fresh or frozen meats and other food products and spices. Similar to a microwave oven, the SureBeam(r) technology uses electricity as its energy source to eliminate bacterial threats in food after it has been processed and packaged. SureBeam's patented technology generates a beam of accelerated electrons (called an electron beam) or X-rays from electricity. The beam is scanned across a food product, eliminating in seconds the harmful food borne bacteria such as E. Coli O157:H7, Listeria, Campylobacter and Salmonella without compromising food quality. According to the Centers for Disease Control, food borne diseases strike 76 million Americans annually, leading to more than 5,000 deaths -- predominately among children, the elderly, pregnant women, and immuno- compromised people. These groups comprise nearly one quarter of the population. The revolutionary SureBeam(r) technology is designed to help decrease the incidence of food borne illnesses and to improve quality. SureBeam does for food what milk pasteurization does for milk: stops the spread of food borne disease. SureBeam technology has won the support of many of the nation's most prestigious food processors -- including IBP, Cargill/Excel, Emmpak Foods, Huisken Meats, Tyson Foods, Del Monte Foods, American Foodservice, WW Johnson, United Food Group, and others. Introduced to the American consumer in May 2000, SureBeam(r) treated hamburgers are sold across the nation in thousands of supermarkets and food service, as well as being distributed nationally by Schwan's home food delivery and Omaha Steaks. SureBeam also operates another center in Sioux City, Iowa, and a third center is being constructed in the greater Los Angeles area. SureBeam's facilities combine environmentally friendly electron beam and x-ray technologies, material handling, and SureTrack(r) Information and Documentation systems so as to process approximately 40,000 pounds of food product per hour. SureBeam Corporation's strategic business plan calls for the building of a nationwide servicing network and to install SureBeam electronic pasteurizing technology in-line within the processing plants of major national food processors, as it is currently doing at two Excel meat processing facilities. SureBeam Corporation was created, built, and launched by The Titan Corporation in an initial public offering on March 16, 2001. Headquartered in San Diego, California, SureBeam is a leading provider of electron beam food safety systems and services for the food industry. SureBeam's technology significantly improves food quality, prolongs shelf life, and provides disinfestation that helps to protect the environment. The SureBeam(r) patented system is based on proven electron beam and x-ray technology that destroys harmful food borne bacteria much like thermal pasteurization does to milk. This technology can also eliminate the need for toxic chemical fumigants used in pest control that may be harmful to the earth's ozone layer.
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