| Horror stories concerning the discovery of foreign bodies
in food are common. Everybody has had a bad experience or knows someone
who has. |
| The potential for damage to brand reputation is enormous,
as is the potential for involvement in expensive litigation. |
| It is therefore essential that those involved in the
food supply chain are able to respond quickly to every complaint with
accurate information regarding the three main concerns: |
WHAT IS IT?
WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
HOW DID IT GET THERE? |
| Foreign Body Identification by Premier Analytical Services
can help protect your brand integrity by quickly providing the information
you require to determine the spurious, malicious or genuine nature
of a complaint. |
| 25 methods, accredited by UKAS to the ISO 17025 standard,
assures analysis of the highest quality, thereby providing you with
confidence in results you can trust. |
| Premier Analytical Services is one of the leading food testing
centres in Europe and can place at your disposal a dedicated Microscopy
team to solve your foreign body problems. |
| Utilising "high-tech" facilities and non-destructive
testing they guarantee a rapid and confidential service. Additional
chemical and microbiological characterisation can also be carried
out on foreign bodies, if required, using the additional facilities
of the technology centre. We can also arrange further independent
expert identification and opinion from specialist consultants. |
| Answers are routinely provided within 3 working days of sample receipt.
A faster turnaround can be provided should your circumstances require
an urgent response. |
 |
| The results and expert interpretation are presented in a fully illustrated
report with colour digitised images and spectra, as appropriate. The
level of detail of the analyses can be tailored to the customer's
requirements. |
| And, if it is ever necessary, our team can present their
findings as "expert witness" testimony in cases that go
to litigation. |
| |
| View the Recommendations
and Guidelines for Submission of Foreign Body Samples |
| |
| OUR MICROSCOPY TECHNIQUES ARE AT
YOUR SERVICE |
| The following techniques are used, usually in combination,
to identify both the foreign body and associated surface deposits.
Comparisons can be made with any reference materials supplied in order
to deduce the possible source and point of contamination of the foreign
material. |
| |
| OPTICAL MICROSCOPY |
 |
| Optical
micrograph of rodent hairs showing characteristic ladder structure |
|
| Wood, insects, hair, man-made and natural fibres are all foreign
bodies that can be identified by their morphological characteristics.
Specific staining techniques can identify additional structural components.
This provides information such as the presence, distribution and state
of any food material including starch, protein, fat, cellular plant
material and meat fibres. |
| |
|
| SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY |
 |
| Scanning
electron micrograph showing characteristic surface deposits
baked onto foreign body |
|
| The Scanning Electron Microscope gives useful information from the
surfaces of foreign objects including the amount of wear, possibility
of mechanical damage, as well as deposit adhesion and distribution.
|
| |
|
| SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY UTILISING
VARIABLE PRESSURE MODE |
| No sample preparation is required, so a wide range of
samples can be rapidly imaged and analysed without altering the evidence
on the foreign body. |
| |
|
| SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY UTILISING BACKSCATTER
ELECTRON DETECTOR |
 |
| Scanning
electron micrograph of house fly |
|
| Allows areas of differing atomic composition, in or on multi-component
foreign bodies, to be rapidly identified. This is particularly useful
for discovering evidence of contact thus providing information as
to the cause of fragment formation. Contact with machinery can be
established in this way, as can contact with tooth or dental amalgam
when dental damage is being claimed. |
| |
|
| ENERGY DISPERSIVE X-RAY ANALYSIS |
 |
| Energy
dispersive x-ray spectra of 300 series stainless steel |
|
| Glass, metals, alloys, amalgams, bone, tooth, minerals and mineral
fibres can be identified with this technique by their elemental composition.
This differentiates such materials as heat resistant and soda lime
glass, stainless steel types, dental amalgams, various alloys such
as bronze and brass, stones, and asbestos types. |
| |
|
| FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRA-RED SPECTROSCOPY |
 |
| Fourier
transform infra-red spectra |
|
| Identifies the composition of plastic materials. The results obtained
can be searched against our library spectra to determine the type
of plastic such as polystyrene, Perspex, polyethylene etc. |
| |
| PHOSPHATASE TESTING OF INSECTS |
| Indicates whether the insect has undergone a process involving heat.
Combining this information with the analysis of any adhering surface
deposits, can identify at what point contamination occurred. |
| |
| REFERENCE LIBRARIES AND DATABASES |
| Our analyses and interpretation are supported by extensive
in-house and external reference libraries and databases of materials,
images, and spectra. |
| |
| CUSTOMER SPECIFIC DATABASES |
| Databases of materials present within customer specific
processes or factories can be compiled and used to facilitate the
identification, or elimination, of possible foreign body sources. |
