Foreign body investigations

Foreign Bodies

In addition to microbiological and chemical hazards, physical hazards also pose a threat to food safety.

They may enter the food supply chain as contaminants, adulterants or as foreign bodies. Once a foreign body is found, our team utilizes various techniques to identify the foreign body and determine the source.

Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) technologies can identify glass, plastic, metal and organic materials. These technologies enable fast and effective investigations into the root cause of the foreign body.

Additional services available include:

Line Mapping
Foreign Material Library Characterization

GMO

NQAC Araras offers internationally validated methods for detection, identification and quantification of GMOs through real-time PCR methodology. This methodology allows the specific amplification of the DNA by hybridization of specific molecular adapters to a DNA sequence and its subsequent amplification, according to temperature variations. Some of these labels are fluorescent and the accumulation of fluorescence during the PCR reaction is monitored and calculated by an instrument.

The presence of more than one type of GMO is tested and the increase in fluorescence seen in the reaction can tell whether or not there are GMOs in the samples and, if they exist, if they can be quantified.

If the samples are quantifiable, more specific tests will be made to the detected GMO event.