Pesticide Residues Testing

Need for pesticide residue testing

Excessive use of pesticides and fertilisers in farming especially for the production of fruits, vegetables and many other crops can lead to destruction of biodiversity. These pesticides residue if not properly taken care of, may enter to the food chain and pose potential risks to food safety. Fresh fruit and vegetables are consumed in increasing quantities now a days and it is this fresh produce that is most vulnerable to pesticide residues.

Governments are aiming to protect consumer's health by regulating the maximum level of each permitted pesticide residue in and on food. If any product fails to meet the recommended standards, risk of product recalls and claims may increase. Therefore, quality regulations require companies, industries and analytical laboratories to work towards responsible environment citizenship through regular pesticide residue testing.

What exactly is pesticide residue testing?

Pesticide residue testing identifies the pesticide residue levels in food products through performing accurate and standard chemical and microbiological tests and gives food manufacturers and producers assurance of their product ingredients. Testing for these residues is vital as they may adversely affect the health of consumers if exposed to long period of time.

Pesticides are regarded as potentially toxic compounds to humans. They may be responsible for causing adverse health effects including cancer, effects on reproduction, immune or nervous systems. Long term exposure to these pesticide residues may cause severe health complications, for example, occupational exposure to the organic pesticide namely, rotenone has been linked with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. Before they can be authorized for use, pesticides should be tested for all possible health effects and the results should be analysed by experts to assess any risks to humans.

How Eurofins can help you?

Quality at Eurofins goes beyond scientific excellence and correct results. Process optimisation now allows for very fast turn-around times. High investment in state-of-the-art equipment provides all the capacity needed to meet customer requirements even in high season or in urgent cases.

Our laboratory can test diverse range of pesticide residues such as

• Fungicides
• Herbicides
• Insecticides
• Molluscicides
• Rodenticides

Eurofins pesticide residue testing services include:

• Analysis of individual or groups of pesticides
• Targeted pesticide testing
• Multi- residue screening for diverse range of compounds including but not limited to
  • Organophosphorus
  • Organochlorine
  • Pyrethroid
  • Triazine
  • Dicarboximide
  • Organonitrogen compounds
  • Carbamates
  • Plant growth regulators and many more
• We also perform advanced and rapid tests for food contamination and also animal feed contamination
• Microbial analysis for wide range of food and feed matrices and also for water samples.
• For rapid screening of pesticide residues in various foodstuffs, we perform chromatographic techniques such as LC/MS/MS and GC/MS/MS systems and all methods have been developed and validated in compliance to the latest USFDA, CODEX and other national and international requirements.

Products tested for pesticides

• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Dried fruits (incl. concentrates, powders etc.)
• Fruit juices and concentrates
• Tea, Coffee, Cocoa
• Baby food
• Cereals
• Rice
• Beverages, Wine and spirits
• Fish & Fish products
• Meat & Meat products
• Convenience
• Herbs & Spices
• Oleoresins
• Flavours
• Dairy products
• Fats and Oils
• Drugs
• Tobacco
• Feed
• Soil sample, drinking, ground or surface water
• Plasma, blood (in the context of GLP studies)
• Candies
• Honey

Our extended services for pesticide residue analysis

• Performance of pesticide residue analyses
• Recommendation of analysis scopes
• Performance of express analytics (12, 24, 48 hour-testing)
• Performance of GLP studies (in the context of pesticide's registration)
• Helpdesk regulatory framework (regulations and maximum residue limits)
• Consultancy in product safety
• Pesticide analysis for GMP studies (Ph. Eur. / USP)
• Design and technical implementation of test scopes in relation customer or product specification
• Method development and validation under GMP/GLP guidelines and in accordance with ICH guidelines
• Pesticide analysis as for FSSAI regulations.

Eurofins operates several pesticide testing laboratories within its global network in addition to the Group's Competence Centre, Eurofins laboratory in Bangalore offers 500+ pesticide residue analysis.

This Competence Center with over 130 members of staff dedicated to pesticide testing is one of the leading laboratories in this field. Their experience in many matrices - including the difficult ones like tea, spices and tobacco - enables Eurofins to apply the right analytical strategy and to offer tailored advice to help clients to protect their products and brands.

Why to choose Eurofins?

• Eurofins fast and high quality results is entrusted by many of the top brands in India.
• Eurofins laboratory is accredited, certified & recognized by BIS, FSSAI and APEDA
• Competence Centres with state-of-the-art equipment such as high-resolution GC, HPLCs, GCMSMS, FTIR, ELISA, HR-MS, GC-MS, HPLC, LC-MS/MS, ICP-MS, Real-time PCR and NMR systems
• Fast turn-around time (TAT)
• Local contact with a Global Network
• Participation in industry associations and regulatory bodies allowing early advice on potential food scares and legal obligations
• Expert advice - testing schemes, on-site-check for hygiene and allergens, labelling advice and traceability
• Results you can rely on
• International presence­