Published: Nov 10, 2005, Tampa Tribune

MULBERRY - -- In 1992, when a massive Cobalt irradiation plant was built in Polk County, its mission seemed clear: Make the food supply safer.

But the American public never swallowed the idea of irradiated food. Neither did the food processing industry.

So the owner of the plant, Food Technology Service Inc., had to find something else to zap. It has: medical equipment and supplies, a multibillion-dollar business in Florida.

"There's a whole universe of customers that need medical sterilization for their products," said President and Chief Executive Richard G. Hunter.

The company, which began to mine the growing medical market four years ago, found that some large potential customers would not consider the Mulberry plant because it lacked a crucial seal of approval -- that it meets the requirements of the International Organization for Standardization for radiation sterilization of medical devices.

In late September, the company became the only ISO-rated independent gamma sterilization plant in Florida. Until now, manufacturers in state who needed an ISO-rated gamma sterilization vendor had to ship products to Spartanburg, S.C., or Charlotte, N.C.

The ISO rating came in the nick of time. Food Technology Service, which trades on the NASDAQ under VIFL, must get its stock price up to $1 by April or face delisting. Shares closed at 94 cents Wednesday.

The company balance sheet appears to be improving. From January through September, the company booked a profit of about $100,000 -- the amount it lost during the same period last year. Revenue for the first nine months of this year is up 29 percent, to $1.2 million.

"We are proud of this company," said Jim DeGennaro, director of business development for the Central Florida Development Council. "I think they're turning it around."

Getting Products To Customers Quickly

Having an ISO-rated gamma sterilizer just down the road is good news for the more than 100 medical products manufacturers in the Bay area, said Geary Havran, president of NDH Medical Inc., a medical equipment company in St. Petersburg.

"We save about a week in processing time. It helps us to get the product to the customer quicker and keep a lower inventory."

The demand for gamma sterilization, which uses Cobalt 60 to generate the radiation, is growing along with the demand for pristine products in health care, Havran said.

Hunter said Food Technology Service generates 40 percent of its revenue from treating food products and spices. It irradiates 10 million pounds of ground beef every year. Jim Jones, sales and marketing vice president for Food Technology Service, said its largest medical customer is Primary Care Solutions Inc. The Zephyrhills company produces sterile saline solution for wound care. Another large customer is Anazao Health Corp. in Tampa, which produces a prepackaged prostate-cancer treatment of radioactive pellets in a syringe.

While the traditional sterilization method of pressure-heating works for such medical equipment as steel scalpels, it destroys flexible polymers and paper. Gamma radiation is estimated to account for about half of all medical sterilization.

Gamma radiation breaks down genetic material, killing viruses and bacteria. The expense is low, scientists say, and there is little effect on the environment. Gamma rays penetrate a variety of densities and materials so there is no need to unpack boxes. Pallets of medical supplies can be sterilized simultaneously.

Although the Cobalt rods are not cheap, the irradiation process is so highly automated that the company needs only 12 employees to run the 28,800-square-foot plant.

Materials to be sterilized are packed in an aluminum canister that travels on a track around the radioactive material. Workers are protected by a 6-foot-thick concrete wall. When they need to approach the platform of Cobalt rods, they submerge it in water, where the rods glow blue.

The plant is working around the clock, Jones said, but could add rods and up doses for more business.

Scientists Turning Company Around

To gain the ISO certification, Food Service Technology had to invest in staff and equipment. It bought a system that assures products get proper radiation exposure throughout the canister and hired pharmacologist Susan LeFrancoise as quality-control officer.

It may seem ironic that Food Service Technology, which foundered under the direction of experienced businessmen, now appears headed to profitability under the guidance of scientists. The shift began four years ago with the arrival of Hunter, who holds an environmental health Ph.D. and worked for the state health department for 12 years.

The board has made a similar tilt toward science. A year ago, the chairmanship went to John Sinnott, director of infectious disease for the College of Medicine at the University of South Florida.

He says the ISO-rated plant should attract more high-tech start-ups to this area. "It's inexpensive and it protects patient safety," he said. "Companies are going to say, 'Wow, we want that!' "