Herbs and spices
Analysis of herbs and spices
Throughout the entire supply chain, we offer quality assurance measures for raw spices, intermediate products or finished products as well as herb and spice mixtures. Whether growing, exporting, importing, trading or selling herbs and spices - you will always find qualified experts for your specific needs within the Eurofins network of Food & Feed Testing laboratories.
Key services
- Pesticides
- Multiscreening (>700 substances)
- Single parameters, e.g. glyphosate
- Group parameters, e.g. dithiocarbamates, phenoxycarboxylic acids
- Polar parameters, e.g. kasugamycin, glufosinate, chlorate, perchlorate
- Heavy metals and elements (inorganic contaminants)
- Pyrrolizidine alkaloids/tropane alkaloids (PA/TA)
- Fumigants, e.g. ethylene oxide, methyl bromide, phosphane
- Mycotoxins, e.g. aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, alternaria toxins
- Illegal dyes, e.g. Sudan dyes, Para red
- Mineral oil (MOSH/POSH/MOAH)
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- Solvent residues
- Nicotine
- Acrylamide
- 2- or 3-monochloropropanediol (MCPD), MCPD and glycidyl esters
- Dixoins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)
- DGHM requirements
- THIE requirements
- Indicator germs
- Pathogenic germs
- Spoilage pathogens
- Challenge tests
- NMR profiling
- Dilution with/addition of foreign substances, e.g. starch, preservatives
- Mislabelling: substitution of species varieties, mixtures
- Use of by-products from the same plant, e.g. cinnamon bark in cinnamon powder
- Plant speciation by Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)
- Microscopy, e.g. foreign plants
Molecular biology
Specific parameters
- Natural ingredients, e.g. coumarin, piperin, capsaicin, cresol, vanillin, ethyl vanillin
- Flavour components
- Essential oils
- Irradiation
- Filth test
- Moisture content
- Ash (total, acid-insoluble)
- Extract, e.g. ether, water, alcohol
- Volatile sulphur compounds, e.g. garlic
- Allyl isothiocyanate, e.g. mustard
- Saffron characteristics
Additional services
- International sampling at the point of origin in over 100 countries
- Labelling control aligned with national and international regulatory standards
- Nutritional analyses
Memberships of individual Eurofins laboratories
- Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit (BVL), Arbeitsgruppe §64 LFGB Mykotoxine (in German)
(Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL), Working Group §64 LFGB Mycotoxins) - Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh), Lebensmittelchemische Gesellschaft (LChG)
(German Chemical Society (GDCh), Food Chemical Society (LChG));
Legal bases and guidelines
- Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 (maximum residue levels of pesticides)
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/915 (maximum levels for certain contaminants)
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2782 (methods of sampling and analysis for the control of mycotoxins levels)
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2783 (methods of sampling and analysis for the control of plant toxin levels)
Get in touch
Would you like to find out more about our testing solutions, or do you need tailored analytical support? Contact us today to get in touch with our experts.