Bellingham Pioneer of ‘Ultra Rice’ Wins Business Week Innovation Honor—Except They Didn’t Name Him

Duffy Cox isn’t a one-hit wonder with “Ultra Rice.” The Bellingham, WA-based inventor, who has worked to fortify rice with essential nutrients for people in developing countries, has been honored by Business Week for his work to pasteurize eggs while they’re still in the shells.

Cox and his company, Bon Dente International, don’t get the glory in this piece from Business Week, but it’s his invention that’s being recognized with one of the 10 Chicago Innovation Awards. Cox licensed the technology to Lansing, IL-based National Pasteurized Eggs, which has been able to bring these safe-to-eat eggs to the marketplace at stores like Jewel-Osco, Wal-Mart, and Dominick’s.

The Business Week piece notes that they are sold under the Davidson’s Safest Choice label, and are selling well enough that National Pasteurized Eggs predicts revenues will reach $30 million this year, up 50 percent from a year ago.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.