ScanTech Prepares to Open Food Treatment Facility

ScanTech Sciences Inc. announced that it will partner with Freight Handlers Inc. to staff and operate the company’s first electronic cold-pasteurization food treatment center in McAllen, Texas.

ScanTech, based in Norcross, Ga., also appointed Dwayne House to the new position of CEO.

House will be responsible for opening the McAllen facility and implementing an expansion strategy with additional locations, ScanTech co-founder and Chairman Dolan Falconer said in a statement Sept. 19.

Before joining ScanTech, House served as managing director of Mato Resources, a company that sponsored tours related to agribusiness and natural resources in the United States and South America. He also has been a founder or early stage senior executive for seven startup ventures in agribusiness, cable, media, technology and telecommunications fields.

The facility in McAllen, which is expected to open in the first quarter of 2018, will have more than 175 job openings, ranging from operations managers to plant engineers, warehouse supervisors and forklift operators, company officials said.

ScanTech Sciences to open ECP food treatment center - ScanTech Sciences, Inc. has started construction of its f... https://t.co/d2sRExS5nt — Simon D (@DSi77) April 17, 2017

ScanTech developed a new method of treating fruits and vegetables for insects, bacteria, mold and pathogens using an electron beam in place of fumigants and chemicals, such as methyl bromide, or hot water. The E-beam system works while maintaining cold chain processes and can be used with or without packaging on high-speed conveyors.

“We are excited to partner with ScanTech Sciences to introduce a new era in food pasteurization and integrated logistics services,” Freight Handlers President and Chief Operating Officer Reid Durst said.

The McAllen facility will handle produce moving across the U.S.-Mexican border and will provide a range of packaging and logistics services for shippers. Additional locations are planned, although no details were provided.

Freight Handlers, based in Raleigh, N.C., was founded in 1991 and specializes in providing labor services to grocery retailers. The company is on pace to handle more than 1.3 billion cases of produce this year and company officials said they expect an additional 45 million cases to go through the ScanTech facility in 2018.