Planning to Test your Food Products?

Food testing is essential for the efficient production of safe and high-quality products. The modern food industry requires thorough inspections and testing to ensure product quality and public health protection. Given that food adulteration is a common issue, food testing plays a crucial role in ensuring food safety and compliance with regulations.

Despite being the final step in the food manufacturing process, food testing is the most important step. It determines the safety of food products and it is vital that food products are tested for physical, chemical and biological hazards. Among the potentially hazardous food contaminants are metals, E. coli bacteria, Salmonella, cleaning agents, additives, preservatives, pesticides and many more.

Various factors cause food spoilage, thereby making food items unsuitable for consumption. Oxygen, light, heat, temperature, humidity and bacteria can all affect both the quality and safety of perishable foods.

• Microbial Spoilage – It is caused by microorganisms like fungi (molds, yeasts) and bacteria.
• Physical Spoilage – It is due to physical damage to food during harvesting, processing or distribution.
• Chemical Spoilage – It is because the chemical reactions in food are responsible for changes in the color and flavor of foods.

Food testing can be done by using several methods, all of which are highly advanced to provide accurate information about the nutritional value and safety of the food. The most common methods of food testing are:

• Food Microbial Testing – This involves analyzing for microorganisms that contaminate food. It is usually done on the raw materials, ingredients and the final product.
• Nutrition Analysis – This involves finding out the nutrition composition of food. The information gathered is used on the product’s label.
• Sensory Analysis – This is the most basic method of testing which involves using human senses – sight, taste, touch and smell.
• Chemical Testing – This involves separating and analyzing different components of the food product, including pH, additives, preservatives, colors, contaminants and more.