Chemical and Commodity Analysis
The Company has always been highly specialised in the entire meat supply chain, from trough to table.
The National Programme for Monitoring Drug Residues in Food of Animal Origin and legislation in force (EEC Council Regulation No. 2377/90 and subsequent regulations) establish the maximum limits for veterinary drug residues and contaminant agents in foodstuffs and animal feed.
In spite being specialised in all of the species pertaining to the meat industry, market demand has lead to developing analytical methods for a wide variety of food samples besides meat, especially with the coming into force of the new EEC and national regulations at the end of 2016 regarding nutritional labelling (EU REGULATION No. 1169/2011 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL of 25 October 2011).
These include:
- Milk and its derivatives
- Fish and its derivatives
- Eggs and egg products
- Baked products
- Fruit and vegetables
- Cereals and their derivatives
- Oil
- Water
In the zootechnical sector, analysis is done on both raw materials and animal feed destined for several animal species, including biological samples like blood and urine and drinking water samples. The Laemmegroup Chemical Laboratory uses a broad range of technologies and instruments for both screening and confirmatory analysis, such as the UHPLC-MS/MS, several generations of Orbitrap® (Q-Exactive and Focus), triple quadrupole instruments like the TSQ Quantiva for meeting the most demanding requirements in terms of sensibility, and the TSQ Vantage for low-resolution analysis used in routine monitoring. The Laboratory also uses programmable wavelength UV-Vis detectors and fluorescence UHPLC-UV-VIS/FL detectors. For analyses that require an ionic profile, ion chromatography is used with the latest generation ICS 5000 conductometric detectors, which makes it possible to carry out gradient analysis through the eluent generator module; it is also possible to work simultaneously or concurrently with another detector that uses Pulsed Amperometric Detection (IC-PAD) to analyse, for example, carbohydrates.
Mass spectrometry paired with the plasma torch (ICP-MS) is the ideal combination for analysing metals in a broad range of samples:
- foodstuffs
- animal feed
- water destined for human consumption
- surface water
- underground water
- waste water
- eluates
Alkali and alkaline-earth metals are analysed by means of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS).
The gas chromatography industry introduces dedicated instruments and analyses: gas chromatography paired with Flame Ionization Detectors (GC-FID) and single and triple quadropole mass spectrometry (GC-QqQ). The use of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) methodologies enables determining the qualitative and quantitative presence of the majority of food allergens, a very common problem today. Lastly, the use of immunochemiluminescence methods makes it possible to measure any fraudulent administration of natural hormones.