Baltimore biotech company partners with JuiceBot on food safety

A Baltimore biotech company is ensuring that juice from robotic dispensers in Los Angeles is safe to drink.
Under a partnership detailed Wednesday, food safety technology from Inner Harbor–based PathSensors is being used by JuiceBot, which provides organic juice in a vending machine–style kiosk.
https://twitter.com/PathSensorsInc/status/1070320512751058945
JuiceBot’s stainless steel machines, currently available in downtown L.A., offer juices and smoothies that can be accessed by pushing a button. Before the organic ingredients from local farms appear in the machines, they go to a commercial kitchen. That’s where they’re washed and prepared. With PathSensors’ testing technology, called CANARY, they will also be tested for foodborne bacteria.
JuiceBot CEO Kamal Mohamed said the testing “helps us remain confident we’re providing the highest level of food safety to our consumers.” It’s part of a wider food safety program that also includes sensors providing info on juice levels and temperature control within a machine.
For PathSensors, it brings a food-based application for its technology.

“The juice market is one of the most competitive segments of the beverage industry,” PathSensors President Ted Olsen said in a statement. “We are helping JuiceBot stay at the cutting edge of food safety with our rapid and extremely sensitive CANARY technology.”

The company’s technology has also been used in biodefense, mail screening and diagnosing problems with plants. The company recently received a $7.2 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to use the technology for building security in the D.C. region, and is also expanding into Asia with partnerships in China and Japan.
PathSensors has about 20 employees based at Columbus Center, the same building that houses University System of Maryland’s IMET.