Analysing food and feed
One of the most important tasks of Wageningen Food Safety Research is measuring and detecting substances in food and feed. This mainly concerns substances that may have possible negative effects on humans and animals. In this way we make an important contribution to safe food and feed.
Wageningen Food Safety Research works mainly on behalf of the Dutch government.
In the navigation below you can read more about the substances that we van measure and detect in food and feed.
Pesticides
Wageningen Food Safety Research has extensive expertise in the field of analysing of pesticides in food, feed and plant samples.
GMOs
In Europe, more and more GMOs are permitted as ingredients in food and feed. However, more and more GMOs are also appearing on the world market that have not been tested in Europe for their safety on humans, animals and the environment. As a result, they cannot be incorporated into products that are marketed in Europe.
Contaminants
Wageningen Food Safety Research's chemical contamination research can be divided into two categories: contaminants and veterinary drugs.
Animal drug research
The detection of prohibited growth promoters, prohibited substances such as nitrofurans and chloramphenicol and the residues of regulated and authorised animal pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics, have been the prime focus of Wageningen Food Safety Research’s animal drug research. Resistance to antibiotics caused by the permitted use of antibiotics has become an increasingly important problem.
Natural toxins
Wageningen Food Safety Research specialises in natural toxins. Natural toxins are harmful organic compounds which have a natural origin. Naturally occurring toxins in food and feed constitute one of the most important chemical risks to consumers.
Microbiology
Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR) conducts indispensable research into the safety of our food. Every day we test products for the presence of pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Consider for example Salmonella or Campylobacter in chicken, or norovirus in oysters and on raspberries. In addition, we analyse our food for the presence of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. With our research, we provide support to the NVWA (Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority) among others.
Allergens
Food manufacturers have had a legal obligation to provide allergy information on their labels for some time now. Soon, however, restaurants and other catering establishments must also be able to provide such information. A comprehensive allergen management system is therefore essential.
Nanoparticles
Nanoparticles have different physiochemical properties. Their behaviour in humans and animals differs from the behaviour of ordinary chemical substances.
Drugs
Wageningen Food Safety Research has extensive expertise in analysing drugs and drug precursors in environmental samples, food samples and biological samples from animals and humans.
Environmental analysis
Wageningen Food Safety Research is able to demonstrate the presence of contaminants in our water, soil and manure. We conduct the identification and quantification of these substances using validated methods of chemical analysis.
Unknown substances
Of most substances the composition of modules is known and with the right analysis we can detect them. But what about substances that are not known?
Unknown source
The source of a contamination in food is not always known. To prevent further spread of contamination, it is important to identify the source quickly.