The nutraceutical and functional food industries are subject to regulations that establish the adequate microbiological criteria (EU Regulations 2073/2005 and 1441/2007) of food quality and safety, which refer to international standards developed in the ISO and CEN Committees.
The use of standardized methods for microbiological analysis is a tool through where laboratories use internationally-recognized, validated testing methods, in order to ensure reproducible results.
Over time, requirements have been incorporated into the general standards of microbiological analysis in food, ISO, EN and UNE standards, such as titration assays or the possibility of using alternative methods to assess colony formations using kits or molecular tests.
Companies generally outsource these procedures to accredited laboratories, however, when the volume of business increases and the company acquires a certain level of quality control, it becomes much more cost- and time-efficient for the companies to have an internal laboratory for microbiological control.
It is easy to make the decision to invest in a microbiology laboratory when costs are redeemed in less than 1 year and present other competitive advantages.
The main competitive advantages for a company are the following:
1.- The cost per analysis is substantially reduced because the company is able to analyze and ensure the microbiological results internally of at least 90% of its analytics. It is convenient to continue outsourcing a part of the analytics to compare results and be able to do a double check (internal-external) on key products, which at the same time serve to justify interlaboratory results.
2.- The resolution time of the analysis is reduced, which increases the response time and reduces the delivery time of the product to the customer. It is an important attribute in the case of exports, since, at the same time, allows to reduce storage costs.
3.- More controls can be done since the cost per analysis is less. You can have better control over raw materials, perform tests in duplicate and do more controls in the cleaning of equipment and work areas.
4.- The technical specialization of professionals is increased.
Monteloeder has acquired the size of a company necessary to have an internal microbiology laboratory and will implement it in the first four-month period of 2018.
Fran Cremades
Technical Director
R&D, Process Development and Scale-up
