Food

Basic testing of quality and composition

The most common laboratory testing for food composition include:

  • fat
  • protein
  • water
  • sugars
  • fiber
  • salt
  • ash

Quality Testing contains analysis of following chemical, physical and physicochemical properties:

  • acidity (acid number)
  • peroxide number
  • density
  • viscosity
  • color (by spectrometry)
  • pH.

These routine tests are performed within a short time, so that customers may expect discounts when a larger amount of samples analysed.

Nutritional value

An obligation to provide nutritional information on food products is imposed on producers and distributors by law regulations in countries such as Poland, EU, USA or Canada. The information includes the caloric value of products and their ingredients contents which have an impact on nutrition. Besides, the main compounds such as fat, protein and carbohydrates, the nutrition labeling should include contents of vitamins and minerals (like sodium, calcium, iron), sometimes calculated as percentage of recommended daily intake.

Our laboratory performs all necessary analysis and calculations required for NUTRITION FACTS LABEL for US and Canadian markets.

Vitamins

They are important components of food, essential for growth and for keeping up biological function. Their chemical structure and p roperties are diversified. Some of them are highly sensitive to light, air (oxidation) or temperature. There are classified in two groups: fat-soluble

  • A (retinol), formed in animal organism from β-carotene (pro-vitamin A);
  • D (calciferol), the main forms are vitamins D2 and D3;
  • E (tocopherol), the most active is α-tocopherol;
  • K (phylloquinone, menaquinones)

and water-soluble:

  • B1 (thiamine, aneurine)
  • B2 (riboflavin)
  • B3 (PP, niacin, nicotinic acid and nicotinamide)
  • B5 (pantothenic acid)
  • B6 (pyridoxine, pyridoxol)
  • B8 (H, biotin)
  • B9 (folic acid, folacin)
  • B12 (cobalamin, cyanocobalamin)
  • C (ascorbic acid)

Our Laboratory performs analyses of vitamins contents in its own premises as well as in cooperation with the best European laboratories specialized in this field.

Heavy metals, trace minerals, bulk minerals

The determination of elements contents in food and agricultural products is carried out both in case of:

  • trace elements (range of concentration - mg/kg or µg/kg)
  • bulk minerals (range of concentration - %).

Such trace elements as cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic - are analyzed for food safety reasons. They are so-called "heavy metals" and their allowed contents are defined by law regulations. The presence of other trace elements, like iron and cuprum, is undesirable and limited because of their catalytic action on fats (rancidity). Some of trace elements (e g selenium, molybdenum, chromium, vanadium) are indispensable because they allow human body to carry out all biochemical processes necessary to its tissue.

The main bulk elements are metals: calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and non - metals: phosphorous and sulfur.

The Laboratory has a long time experience in analysis of trace and bulk minerals. The most frequently method used in Laboratory for this testing is inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry (ICP).

Mycotoxins

Mycotoxins are the toxic substances produced by some species of molds. They present potential risk for human and animal health. Some mycotoxins are known carcinogens; others can damage vital organs irreversibly.

Mycotoxins form on crops in the field or after harvest of corns and other plants as a result of bad conditions of storage.

The species of mycotoxins called Aspergillus and Penicillium can produce:

  • aflatoxins; the most toxic is aflatoxin B1
  • ochratoxin
  • citrinin
  • patulin

Other species called Fusarium can produce:

  • trichothecenes; in this group the most important are deoxynivalenol (DON, vomitoxin), T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin
  • zearalenone
  • fumonisins

Mycotoxins can occur in many food and feed products, such as cereals and their by-products, nuts, spices, coffee, cocoa, tea, dried fruits, bear, wine, milk.

The Laboratory started the mycotoxins testing as early as in the 1960s and actually is one of the leaders in this field not only in Poland but in Europe.

Pesticides, PCBs, dioxins

This group of contaminants contains residues of substances which may occur in food as a result of conscious action of food producers (e g pesticides used for plant protection) as well as incidental contaminants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. The group contains hundreds of compounds at extremely low concentration. Their detection and quantitative determination requires most sensitive methods of analysis.

Testing of pesticides residues may concern analysis of particular groups of these compounds such as chlorinated pesticides, phosphororganic pesticides or screening of a large spectrum containing about 400 compounds.

The PCBs testing may concern a group of 7 selected compounds indicators (congeners 28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153 and 169) and is carried out with use of the method GC-ECD.
Another group of PCBs contains coplanar congeners (77, 114, 126, 156, 157 and 169), which have similar properties as dioxins and are analyzed simultaneously with them.

The Laboratory performs analyses of this group of contaminants in its own premises as well as in cooperation with the best European laboratories, accredited and highly specialized in this field.

Antibiotics and veterinary drugs residues

Food products may contain some forbidden (or allowed only in restricted quantities) residues of antibiotics and other veterinary drugs. The most frequent controlled foodstuffs are milk and milk products, meat and meat products, eggs and honey.
In case of milk the method generally being in use for detection of antibiotics and inhibitors (in this group - sulfonamides) is DELVOTEST SP.

For the antibiotic chloramphenicol in food a zero tolerance limit has been established. Detection and quantification of chloramphenicol at extremely low concentrations in honey, milk and meat is possible by use of gas or liquid chromatographic methods with mass spectrometry detector.

Chromatographic methods are also applied for analysis of other veterinary drugs residues, like nitrofurans and their metabolites, chinolines, nicarbazine, lasalocide, ivermectine, tetracyclines and other.

The Laboratory performs the analyses of this group of contaminants in its own premises as well as in cooperation with the best European laboratories, accredited and highly specialized in this field.

Allergens

According to prevailing European regulations presence of allergens in food should be declared by producers. The EU Directives 2000/13/EC, 2003/89/EC and 2005/26/EC established a list of food ingredients, recognized as causing hypersensitivity, and as such to be indicated on food labels. The most common allergens are found in a wide variety of food products including cow�s milk, fruits, legumes (especially peanuts and soybeans), eggs, crustaceans, tree nuts, fish, vegetables, wheat and other cereals. Most common substances causing allergen reactions are proteins but also other chemical compounds as sugars (lactose) or sulfur dioxide.

In case of lightly processed food, when potential allergens known, the immunologic methods (e g ELISA) are used for their detection and quantitative determination. For SO2 and lactose traditional methods of analysis are applied. In other cases PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method is recommended. The latter method is based on the detection of DNA, specific for tested species, and their identification by the gene structure.

The Laboratory performs the testing of allergens in food in cooperation with the best European laboratories, accredited and highly specialized in this field.

Fraud, falsification

Fraud and falsification of food has become a significant issue on the market whereby dairy products, some vegetable oils and confectionary are among the most affected ones.
Methods for detection of admixtures to some foreign products / substances in food, having a character of fraud, are developed and included in food law regulations.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 213/2001 gives the procedures for detection the presence of rennet whey, butter milk, starch and foreign fats in milk and milk products. Detection of foreign fats applies mostly to butter quality control. The method is based on determination of triacylglicerols (triglycerides) by gas chromatography.
Evaluation of the percentage of milk fat added with other fat to food products is based on determination of butyric acid by gas chromatography of methyl esters of fatty acids.
Detection of fats used to replace cocoa butter (cocoa butter equivalents) in cocoa butter and in plain chocolate with reference to the accepted limit of 5 % is possible by the method validated by European Commission Joint Research Centre.
Detection of other admixtures is often also possible.

The Laboratory performs the analyses of food falsification in its own premises as well as in cooperation with the best European laboratories, accredited and highly specialized in this field.

GMO

According to Polish (and European) regulations labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms is obligatory if their contents in food and agricultural products exceed the limit of 0.9 %.
Our offer includes the tests for detection, identification and quantification of all allowed genetically modified organisms cultivated and harvested in the world.

The Laboratory performs the analyses of GMO in its own premises as well as in cooperation with the best European laboratories, accredited and highly specialized in this field.

Food irradiation, radioactivity

Ionizing irradiation is a technology used to prolong the shelf life of food products. The irradiation eliminates totally or partially disease causing bacteria as well as other microbes causing food spoilage. The dose of irradiation cannot be exceeded over certain limits and therefore has to be measured by dosimetric techniques appropriate to the applied sources of ionizing irradiation. For food safety reasons technical conditions applied for irradiation are defined by law regulations. Measurement of radioactivity is another kind of testing which shows ability of food products to emit a nuclear radiation as a result of spontaneous transformation of nuclei into other nuclides.
Most common is testing of radioactivity caused by isomers Cs 134 and Cs 137, sometimes also by strontium, iodine, plutonium and americium.

The Laboratory performs these analyses in cooperation with the scientific institutes and laboratories highly specialized in this field.

Shelf live testing

Food products are deteriorated in time when stored. Their shelf life depends on the nature of products and their deterioration can affect physicochemical, microbiology and - the most often - sensory characteristics. Physicochemical parameters critical for shelf life are those related to potential rancidity of fats and to changes in moisture content. During storage food can be affected by microorganisms - the presence of molds may definitively disqualify the products. To establish products shelf live they are tested by our laboratory in simulated storage in conditions (at controlled temperature and humidity). Results of our tests help to determine shelf life to be applied by food producers on their products.

The Laboratory performs the testing of shelf life on the "fresh" samples delivered immediately after production and stored in the Laboratory as well as on the samples stored in producers� premises and delivered to us at the end of their shelf life.

Other analyses

Requirements of HACCP and food safety management systems impose on food producers and distributors the task to perform some specific analyses for particular raw materials or products. Examples of such tests are: acrylamide and 3-MPCD.
Need for specific testing may also be related to any problems with food processing, for instance in case of breakdown of production equipment. Such testing may concern any defective products and concentrate on identification of random impurities and finding their origin.

The Laboratory offers a specific testing related to food safety as well as expert analyses.

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