We recognise that with ever increasing legislation relating to trace chemical contaminants in foods and feeds the demands on food producers, manufacturers and retailers to establish and maintain appropriate, cost-effective due-diligence monitoring programmes have never been greater.

Using our extensive knowledge of trace residue legislation and likely occurrence we are able to offer clients expert advice using our residue risk analysis and testing prioritisation system.

This is a flexible system designed to review and assess the various factors likely to dictate the level of risk (real and perceived) associated with chemical contamination of raw materials, process intermediates, and finished products. The system enables creation of a documented assessment and plan of analysis to ensure any materials identified as being of greatest ‘risk’ are suitably and adequately monitored for due diligence purposes. Programmes can be designed to meet budgetary constraint whist still achieving maximum benefit from the surveillance undertaken.

Information is the key to establishing a useful programme. Details of raw materials, origin of supply, extent of traceability, processing and finished product composition are all key elements. These are combined with other factors e.g. legal, customer and consumer requirements, budgetary considerations, and past/ongoing/future authority and industry activities to produce a risk based assessment of a company’s activity.

The programme can be as general or specific as required. It may focus on specific contaminants such as pesticides or mycotoxins, or aim to cover the range of residues currently associated with food contamination.

Flexibility is the key aspect of the programme – the system can be adapted to suit client requirements. For example, one programme may be focussed towards raw material monitoring, whereas another may predominantly target finished product testing.