Globalisation of food supply and distribution has increased the demand for evidence of product safety and quality. Food manufacturers’ ability to fulfil regulatory and consumer demands is a critical success factor in local as well as international markets.
Conventional techniques for many analytical assays fail to meet today’s requirements for sensitivity. Speed, throughput and total analysis times often become rate-limiting factors. As a result of these challenges, biosensor-based systems are now seen by major food manufacturers as a cost-efficient alternative that can increase overall productivity and provide the speed, flexibility and sensitivity required.
Applications are already established for detecting a wide range of veterinary drug residues in honey, livestock and poultry and quantifying vitamins in different food stuffs, such as breakfast cereal, fruit juice or soft drinks, infant formula, nutritional supplements or any other vitamin-fortified product.
Performance advantages include same-day results, rapid analysis, simple sample preparation, and an excellent correlation with conventional methods.
The trend is seen worldwide, with numerous assays having gained acceptance with regulatory bodies such as DG SANCO in Europe, UKAS in the United Kingdom, SWEDAC in Sweden and AOAC (Association of Analytical Communities) in the USA.
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GE Healthcare Biacore is based in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, UK. . www.biacore.com/food
