Food Quality Magazine
ISSUE 02 | AUTUMN 2014
Advances in Food Safety and Quality
Suzanne Milligan, NEOGEN Europe Ltd.
The food industry is constantly
evolving; ever tightening legislation
and advances in technology constantly creates a higher demand
for food safety and quality control
around the globe. In recent years
we’ve seen advances from traditional to rapid microbiology, an increased awareness of food allergens and
stricter regulations for the quality of
meat products following the horse
meat scandal of 2013. In December
this year, we will see further advances with European legislation requiring new mandatory allergen labelling and country of origin labelling
(COOL).
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware and concerned with the
safety and quality of their food therefore it’s crucial to have confidence
in the integrity and quality of your
products, whether it’s processed or
unprocessed foods, beverages or
raw ingredients. Neogen has been a
key player in the food safety industry
for over 30 years, developing and
manufacturing innovative diagnostic
solutions to meet and exceed the
needs of food manufacturers and
processors worldwide.
Neogen offers onsite diagnostic kits and laboratory testing services
to detect mycotoxins, marine and
other natural toxins, speciation and
allergens as well as a wide range of
products for traditional and rapid
microbiology, pathogens and spoilage organisms. Neogen also offers
a complete hygiene monitoring system.
Neogen operates globally with over
900 employees working alongside industry experts to continually develop
its kits to ensure they fully meet enduser requirements. Moreover, unlike
many other food safety companies,
Neogen also provides full onsite training and ongoing customer support.
Mycotoxins
Mycotoxins are natural by-products
that occur when certain conditions
such as temperature and humidity
allow specific fungi to grow rapidly.
Mycotoxins affect grain crops by altering their colour, consistency and
smell. Mould growth can also strip
grains of their nutritional content
making them undesirable for both
human and livestock consumption.
For more than 3 decades, Neogen
has been developing testing solutions for the analysis of mycotoxins.
Neogen offers the most comprehensive range of testing methods
for mycotoxin analysis to detect aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin, ochratoxin, T-2 / HT-2 toxin
and zearalenone. Test kits compare
samples against known levels of toxin, provide results in minutes and
Reveal 3D lateral flow allergen tests
require only a minimal amount of
training and equipment.
Allergens
Recent studies show that between
one and five percent of the total population of Europe have a clinically
proven food allergy. Testing for the
presence of food allergens allows
food manufacturers to ensure that
unlabelled and potentially dangerous allergens do not make their way
into food products.
Neogen’s line of food allergen kits offer rapid quantitative and screening
tests for a range of allergens including peanut, egg, milk, almond, gliadin (gluten), soy, mustard, walnut,
sesame and hazelnut. In addition,
Neogen offers an external laboratory
service for the detection of allergens.
Samples can be sent for analysis
to Neogen’s onsite laboratory which
offers a range of UKAS accredited
testing, with various turnaround times.
Hygiene
Up to 35 percent of food recalls are
related to poor hygiene. Many of
these may have been prevented if
effective monitoring programs were
in place. A good hygiene monitoring
program can highlight problems before products ever reach the public.
Stopping these issues early not only
protects public health, but it also
protects brand integrity. Neogen’s
advanced ATP hygiene monitoring
system features an intuitive interface and an easy to use format.
The system provides an economical,
fast and accurate way to monitor
the cleanliness of facilities by measuring the amount of adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) on surfaces or in
liquids.
Adulteration and Speciation
As the costs for raw materials continues to increase, so too has the
intentional economic adulteration of
food and beverage products. Also
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