‘This is a game-changing benefit’: Tim Steffensmeier (of PURE Bioscience) discusses how SDC offers potent antimicrobial performance without causing damage to equipment or posing a risk to employees or the environment.

“We believe the food industry can benefit the most from our SDC technology because of its low toxicity and rapid kill times.”

PURE Bioscience, Inc. was founded in 1992 under the name Innovative Medical Services (“IMS”) and became a public company in 1996 focused on developing and selling pharmaceutical water purification and dispensing equipment. IMS acquired ETI-H2O, the company that developed and manufactured Silver Dihydrogen Citrate (“SDC”).

SDC, one of the first new antimicrobials in decades, is a broad-spectrum, non-toxic antimicrobial agent manufactured as a liquid and delivered in various concentrations. SDC is formulated into end-use products marketed and sold under the brand names PURE^® Hard Surface and PURE^® Control. PURE Hard Surface (“PHS”) rapidly eliminates bacteria, viruses, and fungi, including SARS-CoV-2, multiple drug-resistant organisms (CRE, MRSA, and VRE), Human coronavirus, Norovirus, Hepatitis B and C, Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella, with kill times as fast as 30 seconds. PHS has been approved for use on food contact surfaces without the requirement of a rinse. PHS is ready-to-use and contains no bleach, ammonia, phosphates, phenols or VOC emitting compounds. PHS is an odorless, non-caustic, and non-irritating formula, providing a better user experience. It makes sanitizing and disinfecting easy with no requirement for rinsing the surface after application and confirmed by its NSF certification as a D2 sanitizer.

IMS changed its name to PURE Bioscience (“PURE”) and launched the first use of SDC as an EPA-registered hard surface disinfectant. In 2016, PURE received approval from the FDA for the use of SDC as a direct food contact substance for direct application to poultry and produce during processing, currently sold under the brand name PURE Control.

The Silicon Review reached out to Tim Steffensmeier, Vice President of Sales of PURE Bioscience, and here’s what he had to say.

Interview Highlights

Q. What strategies does PURE Bioscience implement to exceed client expectations?

PURE can protect our customers’ operations by relying on the safety profile of our SDC technology. The active ingredient in our end-use products, PURE’s SDC technology, is very different from what our customers typically use in their facilities. When formulated into our end-use products, SDC provides powerful antimicrobial performance without causing damage to equipment or posing a risk to employees or the environment. This is a game-changing benefit. Additionally, PURE uses a hands-on approach, working together with our customers to identify the challenges they have and implementing problem-solving solutions to their most challenging concerns.

Q. As a producer of proprietary antimicrobial products, what are PURE Bioscience’s key focus areas?

PURE’s SDC technology has numerous applications spanning many different industries and fields of use. Our main focus is currently on the food industry and the janitorial/sanitation market. We believe the food industry can greatly benefit from our SDC technology because of its low toxicity and rapid kill times. Pathogens such as Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli are significant threats to the food industry, and SDC is a perfect weapon to use in the fight against foodborne illness. As we work closely with industry professionals in the food and janitorial/sanitation markets, we are able to reach a broad range of end users who can benefit from our cleaning and disinfecting solutions. Not only does this help protect our children at daycare, on the bus, and at school, but also mitigates the food safety and recall risks associated with food manufacturing when applied properly to an already robust food safety program.

Q. Can you provide us with one or two success stories, detailing specific client challenges and how PURE Bioscience’s solutions contributed to their success?

A specialty ready-to-eat facility was shut down by the FDA for Listeria contamination throughout the facility, and PURE was called in for remediation. The facility was cleaned and sanitized using PURE products and our specific cleaning methods. The FDA subsequently pulled 300 environmental swabs from throughout the facility following PURE’s remediation process and did not find a single positive hit for Listeria, allowing the plant to re-open for food processing operations.

PURE completed a three-month evaluation at multiple locations for a national quick-serve restaurant chain in which our PURE Hard Surface product was evaluated against the current sanitizing product. No changes to the corporate in-store cleaning methods in the kitchen, food preparation, and dining areas were implemented. The customer set a defined APC level as a reportable incident. APC samples from control locations where the incumbent sanitizer was used resulted in a reportable incident of 25% on average. Locations using PURE Hard Surface as part of their routine sanitation program had a reportable incident of less than 1% on average.

Q. Tell us about the PURE Bioscience team. What value do they bring to the company?

The PURE Team is made up of trusted individuals who have decades of proven experience in the industry. Our team is dedicated and passionate about solving industry challenges and improving health and human safety using our SDC technology. Because of this experience, we are able to use a technical sales approach to help solve food safety concerns not only for our customers but for the industry as a whole.  We love demonstrating the unique chemical applications due to the low toxicity and fast kill times of SDC, and providing solutions where other chemistry can’t be applied.

Q. What new endeavors is PURE Bioscience currently undertaking?

Our goal is to provide unique cleaning, sanitization, and disinfection products and services that meet an unmet demand in the farm to fork market. Our unique SDC solutions allow us to start with animal health and produce field-support equipment, uses throughout the processing plants, during and after transportation, and finally in the restaurant or home, where your food is prepared and served. We are confident SDC will continue having a significant impact in preventing and solving foodborne illness, as well as also increasing health and safety in facility care and so many more areas.

Q. Is there anything you would like to add before we wrap up?

PURE believes in combining science with simple technology and applications to ensure people live and work in safe, healthy spaces. We have devoted decades of research and millions of dollars creating a powerful antimicrobial that is effective and quick-acting. Our SDC-based products can be used across the country to improve cleaning and sanitation practices in nearly every industry.

Tim Steffensmeier | Vice President of Sales

Tim Steffensmeier has a 20-year career in the food industry, having held key leadership roles in sanitation and food safety. His career began at Kraft Foods, where he started in production before accepting a position to lead his plant sanitation department. Following his tenure at Kraft, Mr. Steffensmeier spent over 10 years at Commercial Food Sanitation (CFS), an Intralox Company, where he was one of the founding members. As Senior Food Safety Specialist, he was responsible for supporting small to large companies with continuous improvement and solutions as it pertained to sanitation and food safety. Tim’s primary responsibilities quickly evolved into leading the multiple divisions in North America, as well as strategic global accounts. In his last two years at CFS, Mr. Steffensmeier developed a role which allowed him to support the Intralox regional and global sales teams as a subject matter expert for food safety, sanitation, chemical compatibility, and hygienic design. During his career, Mr. Steffensmeier co-developed global food safety and sanitation assessments, global training programs, and has co-authored articles for prominent industry magazines. Mr. Steffensmeier has built a solid reputation and successful career around teaching, coaching, consulting, troubleshooting, problem solving, and providing exceptional solutions.

“Our SDC-based products can be used across the country to improve cleaning and sanitation practices in nearly every industry.” 

“Our goal is to provide unique cleaning, sanitization, and disinfection products and services that meet an unmet demand in the farm to fork market.”