Food Forensics has become the only laboratory in the UK to have been awarded accreditation for interpretation in food.
The Norwich-based food science business has been awarded UKAS accreditation to ISO17025:2005 for the measurement and interpretation of stable isotope compositions in food, beverage and feedstuffs.
The business has also joined forces with a similar company in China, and appointed a new commercial director.
Food Forensics MD Alison Johnson, said: “Achieving our UKAS accreditation is the result of a great deal of hard work and commitment from the Food Forensics team, and provides our customers assistance when dealing with the risks of food fraud through accredited testing solutions. We are very appreciative of all our customers who have supported us during the accreditation process.”
Food Forensics analyses the stable isotopic compositions of individual foods or beverages and compares these to its authentic reference datasets to establish the validity of claims on the label.
The company has developed a wide portfolio of solutions covering both country of origin claims (country or region) and verification of production system (organic, free range etc).
The company’s customers include primary producers and processors through to blue chip retailers who insist on optimum due diligence and risk profiling to help protect their product integrity.
Food Forensics has also established a strategic partnership with Centre Testing International (CTI), which operates in over 30 labs across China.
CTI is one of the largest and fastest growing testing companies in China, and Food Forensics has been selected as CTI’s partner to establish a stable isotope testing laboratory in Shanghai.
The Shanghai laboratory was commissioned in February 2015, and will initially focus on developing solutions for the local market, as well as providing Food Forensics with reference datasets of authentic Chinese export products.
Johnson said: “We are very excited by this partnership with CTI. Working together will enable both CTI and Food Forensics to provide enhanced solutions to our customers and give both companies global reach.”
Alongside these moves, Food Forensics has appointed Chris Balaam as its new commercial director.
Balaam, a meat industry professional with experience of supply chains and marketing, will focus on working with clients to develop and assist with the application of the testing to maximise the added value, linking testing into fraud risk management solutions.
