The company, a Life Sciences company that merges sophisticated homeland security sensor science with food safety technology, says that SensorQ™ is a smart label that provides the consumer with a clear indication of the product’s freshness.

Applied by the meat packer to the inside of meat and poultry packages it indicates when the bacterial count increases inside the pack - the label changes color.

Because SensorQ™ measures bacterial levels directly and is unaffected by Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) gases, it offers the consumer’s a safeguard to show whether MAP-packaged meat and poultry is truly fresh or spoiled.

"The SensorQ™ technology brings freshness monitoring for consumers to a new level and promises to make today’s industry standard, the printed sell-by date label, an item of the past," said Dr. Gunnar Weikert, Chairman, CEO and Founder of Inventages Venture Capital Investments, Inc.

"FQSI has impressed me with this innovative product and I look forward to our being able to play an active role in supporting the company," he added.

The investment in FQSI provides DSM a window in the market for food packaging technology in the US. Tony de Vrught, Vice President EBA Specialty Packaging, said that this development was an important milestone. "Next to our investment, FQSI will be one of the companies we will work with to develop intelligent packaging concepts," he added.

"This cross-border partnership is both timely and extraordinary in its composition," said Marco Bonné, CEO and a founder of FQSI. "Today, when the public is critically concerned with the quality and safety of its food products and the US Congress is investigating MAP practices, there’s no question that the need for our technology is expanding explosively. Through this alliance, not only do we acquire the financial support necessary to bring SensorQ™ to market, but we also gain the opportunity to learn from and leverage the scientific and consumer goods marketing expertise that our partners bring to the relationship."