GeneScan USA now offering agrofood industry complete food safety service
GeneScan USA, Inc., a subsidiary of GeneScan Europe AG, and Central Analytical Laboratories, Inc. (CAL) have signed a collaboration agreement which allows GeneScan USA to offer its customers the full range of food quality control services. Producers, traders and processors of food and feed can submit samples and ask for GMO (genetically modified organisms) testing, as well as microbial examinations and chemical analyses such as the monitoring of nutrient profiles, pesticide residues, heavy metal and toxin content. Customers will be talking to one representative for all the different needs, and samples submitted will be analysed under one roof. GeneScan USA and CAL operate out of New Orleans and the laboratories share the same building.
A further advantage of the cooperation is the cost-efficiency of coordinated and streamlined marketing and sales activities. The improved all-round service in the agrofood sector will certainly contribute to solidifying and broadening the customer base of both companies.
"This agreement allows us to present ourselves as a one stop shop", says Dr. Frank-Roman Lauter, Head of GeneScan's US business. "This agreement fits our strategy: GeneScan focuses on its core competency, molecular biology-based testing, while providing its customers with full access to traditional food testing."
GeneScan started to offer molecular biology-based GMO testing of food products in Europe in 1995 and founded its US subsidiary in New Orleans in 1998. All the analytical systems employed for GMO testing were developed and produced by the mother company, GeneScan Europe AG in Germany. GeneScan's strong R&D efforts guarantee a leading position in this area of food quality control. Besides classical molecular methods highly innovative technologies are developed and applied. The GMO biochip (GMOChip), for example, is capable of detecting multiple plant species and genetic modifications in a single analytical work process.
CAL's 30 years of experience as a food testing facility make it a reliable and competent partner for food companies. CAL provides the complete range of traditional high-standard microbial and chemical tests. The company is an expert in the logistics of product movement and in international cargo inspection, including the sampling and testing of bulk commodities. CAL holds accreditations and certifications from recognized national and international authorities essential for the import/export business with Russia, Japan, China, and other countries. This valuable expertise is ideally complementing GeneScan's service offer for assisting the agrofood industry in the implementation of custom-tailored identity preservation (IP) programs. IP control systems are designed to insure that the identity of a product is maintained over the entire length of a supply and production chain and thus contribute an "value added" trait to the final product.
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