Luxcel planning to capitalise on surge in dairy output
Luxcel Biosciences, founded in Cork in 2002 by Richard Fernandes and Dmitri Papkovsky, develops innovative technology to monitor growth and viability of cells for food, beverage and pharmaceutical safety.
With partners Mocon and Oculer, it developed a dairy industry suite of rapid microbiology testing products. Luxcel says its GreenLight and Oculer brands will transform global quality and hygiene programmes in milk and dairy production.
The tests, which can deliver same-day results, assess the quality of the milk right through the supply chain from the dairy parlour to the finished product.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said Ireland is consistently building on its reputation as a country that not only produces top-quality food, but also the systems that guarantees the quality of that food.
“The launch of the Luxcel Biosciences Greenlight test, which can test milk better than any other technology in the world, is an exciting opportunity for us as a country,” said Mr Coveney. “I think this will reinforce the message that Irish food is safe, sustainable, tastes better and is produced on family farms.”
Dr Fernandes said Luxcel optical sensing technology monitors the ability of bacteria to grow in the liquid milk itself, or in the milk powder.
“It is a faster and more sensitive testing solution than standard technologies, but more importantly it is detecting spoilage in dairy that current technologies are missing,” he said.
Dr Fernandes said the global dairy industry is entering a long-term boom, driven by demand from China and India as well as the abolition of EU milk quotas in 2015.
“The required standard for quality in dairy is now even higher due to the pressures raised by export, retailers and shelf-life demands,” he said. “Existing standard microbial tests are designed principally to control milk safety but are missing significant levels of spoilage contamination in the finished products.”
