Italian chemistry lab will help us serve growing needs of sector - Mérieux NutriSciences

The lab in Resena, opened in the summer, is fully operational and will be able to sustain substantial growth of food chemistry activities, said the firm.

Mérieux NutriSciences has six labs in the country with more than 700 employees covering testing activities in chemistry, biology and microbiology, from food to environmental, consumer goods and pharmaceutical.

It also offers services like auditing, consulting and regulatory and labeling.

Main chemistry player in Europe​

The firm told FoodQualityNews that the laboratory places it as a main chemistry player in Europe and strengthens its food safety leadership in Italy and worldwide.

The chemistry laboratory is specialized in food contaminants and residue analysis, which represents a growing health concern for consumers worldwide.

It applies approved methods for the detection of contaminants including pesticides, mycotoxins, dioxins, veterinary drugs, heavy metals, radioactive substances and allergens.

With the latest LC and GC MS-MS, it is probably the best equipped in Italy and one of the very top in Europe, said Sébastien Moulard, managing director at Mérieux NutriSciences Italy.

“Historically Merieux NutriSciences is a leader in food chemistry in Italy (notably since the acquisition of Chelab in 2012) and with this new laboratory linked to our R&D capacities we will be able to better serve the Italian but also the European markets, in response to the growing needs of a sector, the contaminants one, in which Mérieux NutriSciences has been pushing significantly over the past years," ​he said.

“Issues that today both producers and testing companies must face are international or even global and most of the regulations are made at the European level. ​

“Specificities concern some typical products of Italy like Extra Virgin Olive Oil or pasta that represent Italy’s top food quality all over the world.”​

Official inauguration​

The lab was officially inaugurated by Philippe Sans, president and CEO of Mérieux NutriSciences, and

Alexandre Mérieux, chairman and members of the Board of Directors attended the ceremony.

Over 70 employees work in the laboratory covering a surface area of 1,500m2 (16,145 ft2) and that bears the name of Tiziano Conte, the founder of CHELAB, acquired by Mérieux NutriSciences in 2012.

The facility adds to the network which encompasses more than 80 laboratories in 20 countries.

Moulard said the facility will perform high tech analyses on the latest contaminants and residues issues faced by the food industry sector.

“The laboratory is dedicated to the leaching tests and the search of residues on food products intended for human consumption, animal feeds, vegetable and aqueous matrices and soils,” ​he said.

“The main analyses that the laboratories can perform are addressed to pesticides, fumigants, mycotoxins, antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, hormones, preservatives, additives and allergens.”​

Meanwhile, as part of a conference cycle at the World EXPO in Milano, Mérieux NutriSciences held its first conference discussing food authenticity this month.

As food fraud cases are being uncovered almost on a monthly basis, it is a topic of concern to quality managers in food trade and manufacturing, said the firm.

The conference brought together stakeholders from industry to listen to experts from the food control authorities, retailers and Mérieux NutriSciences. 

A key message was that food fraud has been around for more than 200 years, adulterating the same categories of products as today but the difference is that modern-day fraudsters find new ways to adulterate food, said the company.