Chemistry

Food chemistry Leatherhead Food Research's dedicated chemistry laboratories can support our clients with method development and confidential research projects as well as a fast, reliable and competitively priced routine analysis service.

Chemical analysis can help to ensure that food and drink products meet consistent standards and quality. It can also provide accurate data to meet regulatory and consumer requirements - for example, on the concentration of vitamins added as fortificants for package labeling.

Our range of analytical testing services includes:

Nutritional analysis

Leatherhead Food Research's comprehensive UKAS accredited nutritional analysis service includes all analyses required for Group 1 and Group 2 nutritional labeling, as well as omega 3 and 6 and trans fatty acid analysis and a full range of vitamin and mineral testing.

Vitamins and Minerals

Leatherhead Food Research has a long established UKAS-accredited vitamin testing service which uses high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), significantly improving the accuracy and consistency offered previously by microbiological techniques. We are able to offer fast and efficient screening services for a comprehensive range of minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, sodium and zinc) by ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) technology.

Allergens

Leatherhead provides a range of procedures to test for allergens, including UKAS accredited enzyme linked immuno-sorbant assay (ELISA), analysis of allergen levels in swabs (to check for contamination of production lines), and analysis of lactose by ion chromatography.

Meat speciation

Using UKAS-accredited ELISA procedures we can test either raw or cooked meat samples for beef, sheep, pork and poultry.

Taints and contaminants

At Leatherhead we can deploy both chemistry and sensory analysis to help identify the sources of taints, with sensory analysis being used to identify a range of potential compounds that can be targeted for chemical analysis. Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GCMS) - is employed as it is one of the most selective techniques available for the analysis of volatile organic compounds.

Phytochemicals

Phytochemicals - a term covering a range of compounds such as carotenoids and polyphenols in foods - are of great interest due to their potential health benefits as well as chemical characteristics such as colour or their ability to act as antioxidants or antimicrobials. Common techniques used to measure these are HPLC or LC-MS, or groups of compounds may be measured by colorimetric or 'antioxidant' assays.

To learn more about our Analytical and Chemistry services please contact Dr Rachel Burch.

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