Hamburg Wholesale Market has celebrated the opening of its new high-throughput laboratory, set up by BFL Bio Fruit Laboratories for fresh food analysis.

Around 100 guests from trade and industry, consumer protection, politics, science and the media gathered at the market on June 29 to mark the opening of the lab in the logistics centre operated by HQL Hodorff Qualitatslogistik.

The laboratory specialises in testing for pesticides, is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, has a large capacity for producing analyses and operates 365 days a year. Its set-up means food can be analysed comprehensively in a short space of time.

Manfried Giesecke, BFL’s general manager, explained the benefits of the lab’s release-for-sale procedure: “The test results are available within 12 hours, meaning before the goods go on sale. With regards to pesticides, the consumer can be sure that the produce he or she buys is fit to eat, and the capacity is so large that every delivery of fruit and veg can be inspected; so random checks are a thing of the past. Existing procedures such as residue monitoring are based on historic data that is neither up to date nor statistically representative.”

Torsten Berens, Hamburg Wholesale Market deputy managing director, believes the concept of the lab is very important for consumer protection and food safety. “At the same time, this innovation is a valuable, invigorating addition to the mix of companies at the market.”

Consumers can recognise produce that has been through the test procedure thanks to a “laboratory tested quality” seal. “With this seal, the trader can show his customers how much store he puts by the best food-safety standards for consumer protection,” said Heinrich Hodorff, HQL managing director.

To coincide with the lab’s opening, the seal was presented to the general public. On June 29 and 30, more than 40 sessions were held in north Germany, with health advisors talking to consumers in supermarkets and street markets. “More education work is urgently needed,” said Hodorff, “but our special sessions showed that consumers do take an interest in food-quality issues. Their interest in the seal and pesticides shows us that we are on the right track, and the retailers who participated were also very enthusiastic about the idea.”

Professor Dr George Schwedt, food chemistry expert at Bonn University, said: “Work will now start on reaching the next milestones, such as developing new, even quicker test procedures and improving or accelerating the complicated process of preparing the samples.” One new project due to get underway in October is a lab for schoolchildren, with the aim of showing, via simple experiments the children can do themselves, what is in the food they eat.