News and Events
Eurofins UK invests in new facility
The new headquarters of Eurofins UK, including the purpose-built food testing facility at the i54 Business Park, Wolverhampton was officially opened on the 27th of September, 2012 by Jonathan Brenton, British Ambassador to Belgium.
The new laboratory allows Eurofins to offer high quality testing services for pesticides and organic contaminants, heavy metals, nutritional analysis and microbiology within very short, industryleading turnaround times and at an affordable price, enabling clients to move towards more systematic testing.
Contact: info@eurofins.co.uk
Eurofins ultra low metals portfolio expanded
Global requirements on food safety are continuously increasing. To assist food manufacturers ensure compliance with lower maximum levels or specifications, Eurofins has expanded its test portfolio of ultra-low metal and element testing using high-resolution ICP-MS (HR-ICP-MS).
In addition to the "4 major elements" arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, Eurofins can now offer 15 rare earth elements and further metals such as selenium, antimony, chromium and nickel with quantification limits down to 1 μg/kg.
Rare earth elements may occur in toxicologically relevant quantities in mineral fortified food products. Selenium is an essential micronutrient being present in food products in trace amounts either naturally or from fortification. Antimony migration can play a role in food and drinks packaged in plastic. Chromium and nickel can migrate during industrial processing into food products.
Contact: nadjafluechter@eurofins.de
Free 3-MCPD in glycerol: new legislation and method available
In March 2012, EU Regulation No. 231/2012 on specifications for food additives was published setting a maximum level for 3-monochloropropane-1, 2-diol (3-MCPD) in glycerol of not more than 0.1 mg/kg. Due to its toxicological relevance, the EU and WHO/FAO have set up a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 2 μg/kg body weight.
Free 3-MCPD is known as process contaminant mainly in soy and seasoning sauces, hydrolysed vegetable proteins, bread and smoked meat products. Traces may also be formed as by-product during the manufacturing process of glycerol.
Eurofins newly expanded method for free 3-MCPD extends our portfolio of testing for the food ingredient glycerol. The limit of quantification of 0.05 mg/kg for the new method will enable manufacturers to monitor EU purity requirements for glycerol.
Contact: sabrinament@eurofins.de
Isotopic analysis of vinegar becomes an official CEN method
The acetic acid present in agricultural vinegar must be derived from the fermentation of plant materials (e.g. from wine), the origin of which can be checked by isotopic analysis only.
An international collaborative study organised by the Eurofins Authenticity Competence Center in Nantes (France,) under the auspices of the Permanent International Vinegar Committee (CPIV, Brussels) was published in Analytica Chimica Acta 649 (2009) 98-105. This study resulted in the standards EN 16466 - parts 1, 2 and 3:2012 being adopted by the CEN (European Committee for Standardisation) in respect of "Vinegar - Isotopic analysis of acetic acid and water"
Analysis of vinegar using these methods is performed at Eurofins Analytics France and available through your local Eurofins contact.
Contact: ASMNantesAuthenticity@eurofins.com
