Forensics Testing for Food Contaminants

Forensics Testing will help Protect your customers and your brand

Whether the problem is straightforward or complex, an AsureQuality Food and Environmental Forensic approach will help minimise downtime, reduce the risk of product recall, and help get things back to normal as quickly as possible –  helping protect consumers and your brand.

Scope of our forensics investigations

• Physical - e.g. glass, plastic, metal fragments, fibres…everything even the smallest particles less than the size of a pin-head
• Chemical – e.g. chemical contamination, taints and odours
• Biological – e.g. pests, microbiological growth, seeds

Key analytical techniques available

We use a combination of analytical techniques to help determine the origin of the contaminant, assure safety, or provide leads for further investigation.
These include:

• Optical Microscopy
• Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy/ Microscopy (FTIR),
• Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy dispersive x-ray analysis (SEM-EDX),
• Gas chromatography (MS, FID, ECD)
• Liquid chromatography (MS_n, Ion trap, UV, Fluorescence)

We are the only commercial laboratory able to offer the powerful general inorganic and organic chemical characterisation technique of infrared microscopy.

As well as in-house capabilities, AsureQuality has relationships with a network of external experts throughout New Zealand ensuring that the best expertise is always on–hand.

Sample Submission Process

Sample Submission Process (incl. overseas samples) (PDF 49.7KB)

Food and Environmental Forensic Submission Form

We are a MAF accredited transitional facility and we can accept overseas samples.

Import Permit for lab specimens of :

1. Plant origin
2. Animal origin

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