Produce
Supporting the produce industry at all points—“farm-to-fork"
Produce food safety starts well before planting the seed or serving the salad to a consumer. While microbial safety and spoilage is a consideration in all segments of the food industry, produce presents unique challenges due to perishability of the product, complex supply chains, and a limited set of mitigations to control food safety threats.
Eurofins Food & Feed Testing laboratories understands the dynamic nature of your fresh products, and we are here to support the industry at all points—“farm-to-fork”. Whether your need is product testing, water testing, a risk assessment, or a shelf-life study, we are here to guide and support you with industry-leading technologies, state-of-the-art laboratories, and easy access to experts when challenging situations occur.
Let us help find your solution
From baby greens to whole head romaine, from field packed to triple-washed, the network of Eurofins Food & Feed laboratories is here to support you with our leafy green microbiology testing services. We know the challenges you face from managing the quality of your crop to coordinating sampling, regulatory audits, and aligning customer expectations. The leafy green industry responds almost daily to shifting and evolving food safety and quality challenges ranging from setting appropriate buffer zones, to the intricacies of the pre- and post-harvest product and process sampling.
We understand time is of great importance with a limited product shelf life. Our locally-based client service teams strive for responsive service so that we can get you answers quickly and your results on time. Our national network of ISO 17025 accredited laboratories is here to support your business with a full portfolio of microbiological and chemistry leafy green testing services for pre-harvest, agricultural water testing, product, and facility environmental monitoring. In addition, we offer dedicated on-site modular laboratories dedicated to your individual needs.
Speak with our team and we will be happy to find a solution to your needs. Here are just some of the services we offer:
Pre-harvest, product, and environmental
- Pathogens
- Hepatitis A and norovirus
- Indicators
- Spoilage
- Strain identification with whole genome sequencing
- Floor plan module
Contaminants and GMO
- Allergens
- Heavy metals
- Pesticide residues
- Aflatoxins
- GMOs
- Glyphosate
Nutritional analysis and labeling
- Proximates
- Fats and proteins
- Carbohydrates, sugar profile, and fiber
- Vitamins and minerals
Food safety projects
- Shelf life studies
- Wash flume verifications and validations
- Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) Optimization studies
- Process validations
- Challenge studies
Agricultural water and soil testing
- Soil fertility
- Fruit mineral/maturity
- Plant and leaf nutrition
- Irrigation water
- Fertilizer/compost
- Wastewater
- Sampling services
Fresh-cut fruits and vegetables
The fresh-cut industry deals with similar challenges in the field of food safety along with additional complexities introduced with processing and facility management. Eurofins Feed & Feed Testing laboratories understand that the fresh-cut industry is highly sensitive to recalls and needs a partner laboratory to support their business and keep track of all results. With low shelf-life products, we know that your time is very valuable. We conveniently offer a nationwide network of ISO 17025 accredited laboratories. Our local customer service and technical teams can provide you responsive and dedicated service. We offer Data Management tools with online ordering and result viewing to simplify your testing experience.
Fresh-cut fruit and vegetables are a value-add category that comes with a whole host of challenges ranging from risks from growing, to complex equipment and processes within your processing facilities. Eurofins Feed & Feed Testing laboratories move at the speed you do; we have built our service portfolio to support you on your day-to-day activities for environmental monitoring, product testing, and quality challenges. Our experts & laboratory facilities offer industry-leading technology to screen for pathogens, identify indicators, and support you in risk and root cause assessments from field to facility.
Speak with our team and we will be happy to find a solution to any needs! Here are just some of the services we offer:
Product and environmental
- Pathogens
- Hepatitis A and norovirus
- Indicators
- Spoilage
- Strain identification with whole genome sequencing
- Floor plan module
Contaminants and GMO
- Allergens
- Heavy metals
- Pesticide residues
- Aflatoxins
- GMOs
- Glyphosate
Nutritional analysis and labeling
- Proximates
- Fats and proteins
- Carbohydrates, sugar profile and fiber
- Vitamins and minerals
Food safety projects
- Shelf life studies
- Process validations
- Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) optimization studies
- Wash flume validations and verifications
- Challenge studies
Frozen fruits and vegetables
Eurofins Food & Feed Testing laboratories understand the challenges associated with Individual Quick-Frozen (IQF) produce. Our team of scientific experts and national network of ISO 17025 accredited laboratories are here for all your food safety testing and consulting needs in order to help mitigate risk at each step in your process. In addition, we offer our real-time results platforms to simplify ordering testing and obtaining results.
The frozen fruit and vegetable industry integrates the benefits of fresh with a longer shelf-life that allows consumers to enjoy the freshness and nutrition of fruits and vegetables from the freezer case. With freezing, new considerations for quality and food safety come to the forefront. IQF is a useful process in the produce industry to extend the shelf life of fresh produce. Fruits and vegetables are chilled rapidly in order to prevent the formation of large ice crystals that impact product quality. However, this process comes with some challenges in regard to food safety.
Listeria contamination is a looming risk as incoming raw produce is delivered regularly. Blanching is a process used to improve product quality prior to freezing and may be effective for pathogen reduction. Confirmation validation testing is needed within each facility to ensure your blanching process is working. Some produce, such as berries, cannot be blanched resulting in a limited number of ways to reduce pathogens. In these cases, the focus needs to be on having a robust environmental monitoring program for your facility.
Speak with our team and we will be happy to find a solution to any needs! Here are just some of the services we offer:
Product and environmental
Pathogens
Hepatitis A and norovirus
Indicators
Spoilage
Serology and whole genome sequencing
Floor plan modules
Contaminants and GMO
Allergens
Heavy metals
Pesticide residues
Aflatoxins
GMOs
Glyphosate
Nutritional analysis and labeling
Proximates
Fats and proteins
Carbohydrates, sugar profile, and fiber
Vitamins and minerals
Food safety projects
Shelf life studies
Blanching verifications and validations
Process validations
Challenge studies
Tree fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables
Whether your fruit is going to fresh pack for retail, controlled atmosphere storage, or for further processing, Eurofins Food & Feed Testing laboratories have your testing needs covered. We are conveniently located in growing regions to provide rapid solutions. Our teams are happy to address your needs and help you effectively monitor your food safety and spoilage risks in your packing facility.
Our Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, Inc. (formally Cascade Analytical) in Washington offers over 40 years of experience supporting the Pacific Northwest's tree fruit community and is perfectly positioned to be your complete testing provider. We offer testing for water, soil, environmental, and products combined with courier and sampling services, as well as our convenient ordering and results platform for real-time results. We know that our data will be used by our clients to make informed decisions about their agricultural practices and optimize their environmental resources. You focus on the fruit, we will cover you on everything else.
With access to our large laboratory network, Eurofins Food & Feed Testing laboratories have a full-service portfolio to serve the tree fruit industry. Here are just a few of our offered services:
Pre-harvest, product and environmental
- Pathogens, indicator and spoilage organisms
- Heat-resistant molds
- Alicyclobacillus
- Western-X or X-disease
- Little cherry disease
- Serology and whole genome sequencing
- Facility heat maps
Contaminants and GMO
- Allergens
- Heavy metals
- Pesticide residues
- Aflatoxins including patulin
- GMOs
- Glyphosate
Agricultural water and soil testing
- Soil fertility
- Fruit mineral/maturity
- Plant and leaf nutrition
- Irrigation water
- Fertilizer/compost
- Wastewater
- Sampling services
Food safety projects
- Shelf life studies
- Wash flume verifications and validations
- Blanching verifications and validations
- Challenge studies
Why choose Eurofins Food & Feed Testing?
Data analysis
We recognize that the power of your data is not the data point, but the data set. Our data analysis systems are complementary and are supported by onboarding experts to make the transition to our systems simple.
Capture the total value of your testing data with:
- Streamline ordering
- Traceability
- Real-time laboratory updates
- Analysis support
- Custom reporting
On-site or near-site modular laboratories
Short shelf lives, rapid supply chain expectations, and demanding regulatory requirements mean that fast, accurate product release testing has never been more critical.
A Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories, LLC modular microbiology laboratory can be placed on-site at your facility or growing field, designed with the same foundational principles as our brick and mortar labs.
Benefits of a modular laboratory:
- Speed and focus of an in-house laboratory
- Custom designed
- Industry specific
- Purpose-built for throughput and efficiency
Connect with our microbiology team today and create an ISO 17025 accredited, modern, modular microbiology lab that’s built for your business.
Consulting, auditing, and certification support
Audits and certification requirements can be daunting and yet another additional task that takes you away from production. Our team of experts offer training to allow you to meet the increasingly complex and demanding regulatory and consumer standards as well as the tool that you need to comply with these regulations.
Address critical steps for your supply chain:
- Warehouse/distribution center audits
- Costco addendums & supplier audits
- GMP audits
- HACCP verification audits
- Pre-assessments
- GFSI audits
- Risk assessments
Convenient logistics
Work with us no matter where you are located. Near one of our labs, we offer flexible scheduling on courier pick up. If not, we offer other great solutions including discounted overnight shipping through our unique ExpressMicro model. We will work to provide the best solution to fit your needs.
Find your solution:
- Courier sample pick-up
- Discounted overnight shipping
- ExpressMicro
- Local laboratory