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Food & Feed

Today, there have been significant changes in the old-fashioned approaches to food processing and presentation to consumers due to both consumer awareness and countries updating their food laws in line with “producing healthier and safer food” and Food Safety has become the most important social issue of recent years.

When the concept of Food Safety is viewed from a narrow framework, it is a concept used in the sense that food is prepared in accordance with its intended use and does not harm consumers when consumed, but in a broader sense, it is a scientific system cycle that defines the processing, preparation, storage and presentation of food to the end consumer in a way that prevents biological, physical and chemical factors that cause foodborne diseases. Safe food is food that has been made suitable for consumption by being free from all kinds of spoilage and contamination.

Persistent Organic Pollutants such as Dioxin, Furans and PCBs

The group of compounds called “dioxins” consists of multiple chlorine-bound dioxins, furans and chlorinated biphenyls. There are 7 dioxins, 10 furans and 18 chlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds in food and feed, which are limited in legal regulations and officially controlled.

Dioxins and furans are compounds that are not specially produced and are formed by exposure of organic compounds to high temperatures in the presence of chlorine, especially as a result of industrial activities. PCBs were specially produced and used in many branches of industry until 1970. Although banned in 1970, they can still be found in systems and many environments.

The toxic effect of a group of compounds called dioxins has been demonstrated in scientific studies and significant carcinogenic effects have been identified. The toxic effect of the dioxin compound known as 2,3,7,8-TCDD is 600 times higher than aflatoxins.

Another main feature of dioxins is that they are lipophilic. This feature gives them the ability to dissolve in the fatty tissues of the body. Therefore, they cannot bioaccumulate and be excreted from the body. Dioxins can be the main pollutants in all fatty foods, especially meat, milk, eggs and seafood.

Our technical system-team detects “Dioxin” compounds with high sensitivity with GC-HRMS device.

Meat Species Determination

Meat products are among the nutritionally important product groups that contain important nutrients such as protein, minerals and vitamins. Meats are a source of high quality protein.

GDO

According to national and international law, a living organism is called a Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) if its genetics are altered in a way that would not occur naturally in nature.

Microbiological Analysis

Oxigen Laboratories is one of the few laboratories that perform microbiological tests with its wide scope.

Shelf Life

There are several mechanisms involved in the deterioration of processed foods.

Pesticides

Diseases and parasites can seriously reduce the yield of agricultural crops, fruit and vegetables.

PAH

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) include a wide range of chemicals (about 500) with two or more condensed benzene rings.

Veterinary Drug Residues

Food contaminants and pesticide residues, chemicals and veterinary drugs in food ingredients are a growing health concern for consumers worldwide.

Energy Carbohydrate Nutritional Value

As Oxigen Laboratories, we perform nutritional value analyses and to determine the nutritional content of your food product, including vitamins and minerals.

Alcohol Analysis

Ethyl Alcohol, also known as Ethanol, is a chemical compound that is clear and colorless in its pure form and has a distinctive odor.

Oil Analysis

As Oxigen Laboratories, fatty acid composition (trans, saturated, unsaturated, EPA, DHA, etc.), cholesterol, total fat, sterol composition, tocol components are analysed in oils.

Fraud Adulteration

There are several mechanisms involved in the deterioration of processed foods.

Preservatives

The conformity of the food additives to be used with the standards or product specifications is checked by purity analyses.

Colorants

Ethyl Alcohol, also known as Ethanol, is a chemical compound that is clear and colorless in its pure form and has a distinctive odor.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are defined as compounds that prevent or delay oxidative deterioration in foods.

Organic Acids

The term organic acid is used for organic compounds with acidic properties.

As Oxigen Laboratories; We analyze a number of minerals and heavy metals in foodstuffs, feeds, drinking water and water-related products and their packaging materials. The main minerals analyzed are sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus, zinc, chromium, cobalt, nickel, selenium and manganese. Heavy metals analyzed are lead, arsenic, cadmium, tin and mercury.

Minerals are inorganic substances that are mixed or compounded with other elements in nature and are solid at normal temperature or obtained by chemical methods. These inorganic substances, which are quite abundant in nature, make up about 4% of the human body. Despite such a small amount in proportion, minerals have an extremely effective role in the formation of blood and bones in the body, maintaining healthy nerve functions, strengthening muscles and the formation of body fluids.

With the increasing demand for Vegetarian and Vegan Testing quotes, it has become imperative to be able to verify these claims. Verifying products with vegan and vegetarian testing is made possible by laboratory testing of the chemicals used in the production of ingredients to determine whether any animal products or by-products are used.

Vegan and vegetarian testing helps brands and retailers to correctly specify ingredients using a step-by-step approach that encompasses the production of ingredients, chemical management, risk assessment and various conformity tests to achieve vegan and vegetarian certification of ingredients.

To capture a share of the vegan and vegetarian market, some manufacturers declare and market their products as vegan or vegetarian. However, the manufacturer’s declaration alone is not reliable. Whether the product meets vegan criteria must be proven by various tests performed by an impartial, independent and accredited organization.

Manufacturers, especially those operating in the field of food, must meet the increasing demand for vegan food options, which is increasing day by day, in order to create a reliable brand perception that considers consumers suitable for every diet.

As Oxigen Analysis Laboratory, we provide you Vegan Food Analysis service.

Different mycotoxins can simultaneously contaminate food and endanger human and animal health.

For multitoxins, the main ones are Aflatoxins, Ochratoxin, Deoxivanelon, Deoxynivalenol, Patulin, Zearelon, HT-2, T-2, Citrinin, etc.

Their presence depends on the growth of molds, whose toxic metabolite contaminates the food product at different levels of the food chain and in an unregulated manner. Sampling procedures should therefore ensure that the sample to be analysed is representative to the batch.

OXIGEN Laboratories have deep experience in the analysis of food products, have analytical procedures specific to different food matrices and use them in multitoxin analyses.