When it comes to fruit and vegetables, consumers expect the highest quality and preferably at any time of year. However, the effects of weather conditions or pests are unpredictable, and these are often neutralized by using plant protection products such as pesticides.

Every year, more than 25 million tons of tea are produced worldwide. Tea is therefore not only one of the most important luxury foods worldwide, but can also be considered a staple food.

Testing the safety and quality of these products is therefore of paramount importance in ensuring that consumers can enjoy tea.

The regions where they are produced are diverse, the path to the finished product can be long, and the risks that can affect the quality of herbs and spices are numerous. Residues from pesticides, microbiological exposure, and a wide variety of contaminants have to be tested for so that you can put a safe food product on the market.

Baby food, infant formula and complementary infant food are designed for an especially sensitive group of consumers who require extra protection. Since the demands are high and the ingredients for baby food are quite diverse – including meat, cereals, fruit, and vegetables – these products require very comprehensive and specific methodological and laboratory expertise.

In contrast to fresh fruit, nuts and dried fruit have a longer shelf life, which makes it necessary to monitor the legal changes even more intensively. Aside from their taste and dietary/physiological relevance, issues concerning food safety and protecting from food fraud also play a large role.

Wheat, maize and rice are among the most important cereals, followed by rye, barley, oats and millet, which are all extremely important staple crops for humans. Testing for residues, contaminants, or microbiology is just as important as analyzing for micronutrients, protein content, or minerals.

The range of dietary supplements, over-the-counter medicinal products, and related products is already huge now and is still growing. This involves adhering to guidelines concerning which ingredients are allowed, making correct declarations, and most importantly, making only permissible health claims. Yet this must also be accompanied by reliable and specific analysis.

In order to provide a fish product that meets food safety requirements, it is important to detect pathogenic micro-organisms such as bacteria in a timely manner. This prevents food poisoning and you put a good quality and safe product on the market. GBA Group supports you with testing, including for listeria, salmonella and E-coli bacteria. And that’s not all.

The meat industry is one of the biggest markets in Europe. The government has set forth certain rules regarding food safety that you as a meat producer must fulfil. The consumer wants tasty, economical meat and a great deal of choice, which presents great challenges to you as a producer. To ensure that your meat products are safe, we perform rapid, reliable and price-technically interesting analyses on a microbiological level. Supplemented by (specific) laboratory tests with which we support you in your product development.

The market for vegetarian and vegan alternatives for meat is growing spectacularly. Meat replacements in the supermarket often have the appearance and texture of meat products, such as vegetarian schnitzels, sausages and burgers. Soy is often used as the source of protein in these plant-based products, but also other legumes such as lupine. There are also traditional Asian soy products such as tofu and tempeh. New protein-rich ingredients and base materials are also used in meat replacements, such as seaweed, algae and insects. There is much investment in product development in this market. Laboratory testing is essential in this.

Through the years, convenience food has made people’s lives easier, which arises from the ability to offer a complete meal that is made in advance, and which requires nearly no further preparation by the customer before consumption.

The expansion of the number of strict guidelines is another factor that this market must take into account. Consumers are increasingly critical with regard to the use of additives and this creates new challenges for product developers.

Products may only be labelled “organic” is they meet the legal regulations imposed for this. Those are the European organic regulation.

The GBA Group has a large network in the world of organic products. We provide clients with quick information about changes in the organic legislation; usually changes to the maximum residue limits (MRLs). The permissible MRLS are lower for the organic industry than for the normal industry.

Important considerations in the market for bakery products and sweets are health and sustainability. Thus companies work on reformulating products with less sugar, fewer calories, less saturated fat, more fiber and smaller portions. And a “clean label”, with as few E-numbers as possible is important.

To support the reformulation of bakery products and confectionary, the GBA Group can perform various analyses in the area of nutritional value. Such as the content of sugar, salt, saturated fat and fiber.

There are plant-based alternatives on the market as an alternative for animal dairy products and new products are in development.

The COKZ oversight is no less applicable to these. The GBA Group can, for example, assist in the hygiene management and preventing food safety risks.