Food Safety and Environmental Testing

Pesticides Testing - General Context

Pesticides consist of active substance(s) intended to control or destroy harmful and undesirable elements on plants and animals. Pesticides are either synthetic or derived from natural products, and include acaricides, fungicides, growth regulators, herbicides, insecticides and repellents. Pesticide residue analysis establishes the residual content of the active substance in the product analyzed.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) are the upper levels of legally permitted pesticide residues in or on food- and feedstuffs. MRLs are based on good agricultural practices leading to the lowest possible consumer exposure in order to protect consumers. MRLs are established after evaluation of the properties of the active substance and the intended uses of the pesticide. Legal limits of pesticide residues in food- and feedstuffs are regulated by European Commission Regulation 396/2005.

CellMadeTM Laboratories specializes in the use of extremely robust LC-MS/MS techniques for the detection of pesticide residues in or on food- and feedstuffs. Due to its extreme sensitivity, LC-MS/MS is the reference method of choice and it currently represents the absolute state-of-the-art of analytical chemistry!