Additives and Preservatives Testing and Analysis

Food additives and preservatives are substances incorporated in edible products in order to perform specific roles and functions, such as preservation of foodstuffs by either increasing shelf life or inhibiting the growth of harmful microbes. There are a number of additives and preservatives commonly used in foods including antioxidants, acids, salts, emulsifiers, colouring agents, minerals and so on. These different food additives have different roles in foods depending on their intended purposes.

Although food additives and preservatives have many benefits, there is still a potential danger of chemical adulteration in foods. Additives or preservatives in foods may trigger other hormonal or chemical processes in the body that can generate negative physiological responses. Although most food additives are considered safe, some are known to be carcinogenic or toxic. For these reasons, many food additives and preservatives are controlled by national and international health authorities. All food manufacturers must comply with the standards set by the relevant authorities without violating the maximum thresholds stated to ensure the safety of the final products. Therefore, Alfa Chemistry has committed to helping you detect additives and preservatives in food.

Our range of capabilities covers as follows:

• Nitrite and nitrate in processed meat

• Benzoic, sorbic and boric acids

• Added colours

• Polyphosphates and parabens

• Sulphur dioxide and formaldehyde

Pretreatment of samples is the most tedious and time-consuming step in this analytical testing service. Pretreatment techniques are also available at Alfa Chemistry :

• Solid phase extraction (SPE)

• Molecularly imprinting technology (MIT)

• Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE)

• Solvent drop microextraction (SDME)

• Liquid liquid extraction

• Supported liquid extraction

Detection technology:

• Molecular spectrum technology: UV-visible spectroscopy, Infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and Fluorescence spectroscopy.

• Chromatography technology:
  Capillary chromatography
  High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
  Ion chromatography (IC)
  Capillary electrophoresis (CE)

Alfa Chemistry is professional in additives and preservatives analysis and we can provide accurate and reliable test results within the time constraint. Alfa Chemistry has continually developed testing capabilities to keep pace with the challenges of and to maintain vigilance against some newly emerging harmful additives and preservatives that may be presented in food. Please feel free to contact us if you have any concern or would like us to perform any analysis services. Check our instrument lists to see our capabilities.