Hear from the food testing experts: New video series on The Scientists' Channel
Watch this series of five videos from leading researchers showcasing the latest in food safety
9 Feb 2022
Editorial article
Testing food products is essential to ensure that food is safe and compliant with any market regulations. To achieve this, analysts determine the ingredients in food products, search for contaminants, and identify potential allergens using a range of state-of-the-art technologies and laboratory equipment.
We now have a new channel on The Scientists’ Channel dedicated to food safety and testing, promoting the work of leading researchers in this field. Some of the video highlights available to watch include:
Meet the isotope hunters
Companies need independent testing of their materials and ingredients in order to secure their supply chain and confirm the integrity of their final product. This is especially important in the food market. Eurofins uses a variety of techniques to analyze many different types of ingredients so that sellers and consumers can be confident in the food they are eating.
The importance of an effective pesticide screening system
NOW Foods is on a mission to produce natural compounds, including supplements, without contaminants. An important aspect of its work is being able to identify pesticides and other residues. The company found that the Thermo Scientific TSQ 9000 Triple Quadrupole GC-MS/MS system addressed its need for a system that had high sensitivity and was robust and versatile.
Overcoming the challenges of analyzing highly polar pesticides
Analysis of food and environmental samples for pesticides and other compounds can be very challenging, especially if analyzing very high numbers of samples. CVUA Stuttgart Official Institute for Food Control analyzes thousands of samples every year. The Thermo Scientific Hypercarb HPLC and UHPLC column has greatly helped the team overcome the various difficulties it faced.
Using mass spec to maintain the health of livestock
Researchers at the Iowa State Veterinary Diagnostic Lab help to maintain the health of livestock by analyzing drug residue samples from various species, screening for many different compounds. The Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Exploris 120 mass spectrometer enables them to conduct routine screening as well as address any urgent or emergency screenings that may be required.
Detecting allergens using mass spectrometry
Detecting and identifying allergens within foods is incredibly important and potentially live-saving. Dr. Phil Johnson, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, explains how mass spectrometry can be used to detect allergens, and how his team ensures it is efficiently testing the correct peptides to identify allergens in food.
Hear from the experts across a range of fields on The Scientists’ Channel >>