A natural product with good antimicrobial properties has won this year’s annual AIFST Food Industry Innovation award.

The Australian Institute of Food Science and technology (AIFST) presents the award each year to a product or process that has had commercial success in the last five years.

the winning product, herbal-active developed by Australian Functional Ingredients, is made from natural extracts of herbs and has significant potential to reduce food waste while also preventing food poisoning.

Specifically, fresh produce and proteins dipped in herbal-active contain less spoilage organisms, resulting in an extended shelf-life from two to ten-times longer than foods that do not use the culinary herb-based product.

AIFST president Jo Davey applauded Australian Functional Ingredients on the innovation, which has a wide-ranging food industry application.

“herbal-active has the ability to also assist with many food security goals by reducing food waste by extending the shelf-life of fresh and manufactured products and increasing food safety – a great asset to our industry,” she said, as reported by Australian Food News.