Food Testing

Amino acid profiling is a critical tool for evaluating the nutritional quality of food, feed, dietary supplements, and nutraceuticals. It determines the presence and concentration of essential and non-essential amino acids, supporting nutritional labeling, protein quality claims, and product development.

At Eureka, we offer comprehensive amino acid profiling using high-precision techniques such as HPLC. Our validated methods ensure accurate results that meet both national and international regulatory requirements.

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Key Applications

• Nutritional and protein quality analysis for food and beverages
• Compliance testing for infant formula and clinical nutrition
• Label claim verification in dietary and sports supplements
• Amino acid balancing for feed formulation and animal nutrition
• R&D and quality control for functional foods

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Regulatory Updates & Compliance

Amino acid profiling has become increasingly important due to evolving food safety and nutritional labeling regulations:

• FSSAI (India) mandates amino acid content in specialized nutrition products such as infant milk substitutes, food for special dietary uses and protein-rich supplements.
• Codex Alimentarius and EU Food Regulations require accurate amino acid declarations in medical and sports nutrition formulations.
• The US FDA also emphasizes amino acid profiles in dietary supplements to substantiate label claims and functional claims.
• Global regulatory bodies are moving toward stricter label transparency and nutrient profiling systems, making amino acid analysis essential for market access and consumer trust.

Pet food plays a crucial role in delivering essential nutrients that support the growth, energy levels and overall health of companion animals. With the rapid growth of the pet food industry, maintaining the safety, nutritional adequacy and quality of products has become increasingly important. Potential risks such as microbial contamination, toxins, allergens, and nutrient imbalances can adversely impact animal health and lead to non-compliance with regulatory standards.

We offer comprehensive testing solutions tailored for pet food manufacturers. Our advanced laboratories are equipped with cutting-edge instrumentation to screen for contaminants, verify nutritional composition, and confirm product authenticity—ensuring your products are safe, high-quality, and fully compliant with global regulatory requirements.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has mandated compliance with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications for certain categories of animal feed, particularly those intended for food-producing animals. However, for pet food, adherence to BIS standards currently remains voluntary. The applicable specification is IS 11968:2019, which provides guidelines on the safety, composition, labeling, and quality requirements for pet food products. Manufacturers are encouraged to align with this standard to enhance product credibility and consumer trust.

Tests in animal feeds include the following:

• Amino acid
• Ash
• Calcium
• Chloride/ Salt
• Carbohydrates
• Drugs and antibiotics
• Fat
• Crude fiber
• Moisture
• Minerals
• Microbiological
• Melamine detection
• Mycotoxins
• Phosphorus
• Protein
• Pepsin digestibility
• Sugar
• TDN or Total Digestible Nutrients
• Calories
• Vitamins

Dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs are highly toxic environmental contaminants that can accumulate in the food chain, especially in fatty foods of animal origin. Due to their persistence and harmful health effects, their monitoring is a critical part of food safety and regulatory compliance.

We offer advanced dioxin and PCB testing using high-resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS), ensuring precise detection at ultra-trace levels. Our methods are in line with international standards to support food safety, regulatory compliance, and global trade.

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Key Applications

• Testing of edible oils, fish, meat, milk, and dairy products
• Monitoring in animal feed and fat-containing food matrices
• Import/export regulatory compliance
• Risk assessment for contamination and environmental exposure
• Validation of organic and clean-label claims

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Regulatory Updates & Compliance

Global food safety authorities have significantly tightened dioxin and PCB regulations:

• FSSAI (India) has adopted stricter norms for contaminants, referencing Codex and EU limits for persistent organic pollutants like dioxins in oils, animal products, and feed.
• The European Union (EU 2017/644 and EU 2017/771) mandates stringent Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for dioxins and PCBs in both food and feed products.
• WHO/FAO JECFA and Codex Alimentarius recommend continuous monitoring and risk mitigation strategies for dioxin exposure.
• Increasing emphasis is being placed on organic and infant food testing, where dioxin levels must meet even stricter thresholds.

Food additives play a crucial role in enhancing the flavor, appearance, texture, shelf-life, and nutritional value of processed foods. These include colorants, preservatives, sweeteners, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and flavor enhancers. While additives are widely used, their safety and permissible limits are strictly regulated by national and international food safety authorities.

At Eureka, we provide comprehensive food additive testing to verify compliance with FSSAI, Codex Alimentarius, EU, US FDA, and other global standards. Our advanced analytical techniques—such as GC-MS/MS, LC-MS/MS, ICP-MS, and UV-Vis spectroscopy—enable the precise detection and quantification of permitted and non-permitted additives across a wide range of food matrices.

Additives We Commonly Test:

• Synthetic and Natural Food Colors
• Preservatives (e.g., benzoates, sorbates, nitrates)
• Artificial Sweeteners (e.g., aspartame, saccharin, sucralose)
• Flavor Enhancers (e.g., MSG)
• Emulsifiers and Stabilizers
• Acidity Regulators and Anti-caking Agents

Regulatory Compliance:

• As per FSSAI Food Additive Regulations, 2011, only approved additives within prescribed limits can be used in specific food categories.
• BIS standards, EU Regulation No. 1333/2008, and US FDA CFR Title 21 also define acceptable additive usage and labeling requirements.

Our Services Include:

• Qualitative and quantitative testing of additives in raw materials and finished products
• Detection of undeclared, misused, or excess additives
• Export compliance testing for global markets
• Support in label validation and regulatory documentation

Partner with us to ensure your food products meet all additive safety and labeling requirements.

Food allergens are typically naturally-occurring proteins in foods or derivatives of them that cause abnormal immune responses. Prevalence of food allergies around the world is believed to be increasing, with more than 8% of children and 2% of adults in different countries and having allergy to one or more foods. The most common allergens for young children are milk and egg but fortunately, many children outgrow these allergies by the time they have reached 5-7 years of age. On the other hand, allergies such as those to seafood, peanut and tree nut may develop later and are lifelong conditions. Commonly known allergens are as follows:

• Gluten
• Crustaceans
• Eggs
• Fish
• Peanuts
• Soybeans
• Milk
• Nuts
• Celery and products thereof
• Mustard
• Sesame seeds
• Sulphur dioxide and sulphites
• Lupin and products thereof
• Molluscs and products thereof

Eureka can help food producers to do a Food Label verification and check the label for compliance with different National and International regulations.

The basic elements on a food packaging label usually include (unless the producers are exempt from labeling their product) :

• Statement of identity
• The product’s net weight
• Manufacturer’s address
• Nutrition facts
  • This is probably the most complicated part of a food label and must usually include serving size, nutrients, vitamins and minerals
  • There are strict guidelines and less strict recommendations as to the font colors, type, size, background colors, hairlines and placement of this part of the label
• Ingredients list
  • Some exceptions apply here as well. For example, for a single-ingredient food product, such as honey, you may not need to include an ingredients list. This is only a small example of how complex labeling regulations can be and how carefully you need to inform yourself in order to accurately present your product to the consumers
  • Allergens, if present in food, should always be listed with the ingredients. If you are making any health claims such as “fat-free” you need to make sure your claim is 100% accurate.

The quality and safety of food packaging and other food contact-related materials, is a primary concern for all consumers, businesses, and governments across the global supply chain. We offer consultation and testing on the requirements of the package materials as per IS – 9845, IS – 10171, IS – 15392 and FSSAI

• Overall migration testing
• Color migration
• Toxic metals
• Polyaromatic amine
• Sensory analysis
• Overall product safety analysis
• Restricted substance testing – Bisphenol A

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) refer to crops whose genetic material has been altered through genetic engineering to introduce specific traits such as herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, or virus resistance. These crops are widely cultivated across the globe and may enter the food and feed supply chains either directly or through cross-contamination.

GMO testing is essential for ensuring regulatory compliance, protecting non-GMO claims, and maintaining consumer confidence. Contamination can occur unintentionally during cultivation, processing, or transportation—making routine screening critical for food and feed producers.

Scientific Basis of GMO Testing:

GMO testing is based on core principles of genetic engineering and cellular physiology:

• DNA-based detection: Identification of inserted foreign DNA within the genome of the plant
• Protein-based detection: Detection of specific proteins expressed as a result of the inserted genes

At Eureka Analytical Services, we utilize advanced PCR-based methods for accurate qualitative and quantitative detection of GMOs in raw materials, processed food, and animal feed.

Our Services Include:

• Screening for common GMO events in soy, maize, cotton, canola, and others
• Event-specific and construct-specific detection
• Cross-contamination monitoring across the supply chain
• Support for non-GMO certification, labeling compliance, and export requirements

Regulatory Compliance:

• Testing aligned with FSSAI, EU Regulations and other global standards
• Quantification against regulatory thresholds (e.g., 0.9% GMO limit in the EU for labeling)

Safeguard your products, brand integrity, and market access with our reliable GMO testing solutions.

Safeguard Your Food Products from Harmful Non-Permitted Dyes

Illegal or non-permitted dyes such as Sudan dyes, Rhodamine B, Malachite Green, and Auramine O are synthetic colorants not authorized for use in food due to their toxic, carcinogenic, and genotoxic effects. These dyes are sometimes illicitly added to enhance the appearance of spices, sauces, confectioneries, or beverages.

We employ advanced LC-MS/MS, HPLC and UV-Vis techniques for sensitive and accurate detection of these banned colorants, even at trace levels.

Key Dyes Monitored:

• Sudan I-IV
• Rhodamine B
• Malachite Green
• Auramine O
• Orange II
• Metanil Yellow

Regulatory Compliance:

• FSSAI (India) prohibits the use of non-permitted synthetic dyes in food under the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011.
• EU Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 and Regulation (EU) 2023/915 restrict the presence of Sudan dyes and other non-food grade colorants.
• Codex Alimentarius and US FDA also outline strict limitations on banned food dyes.

Our Services Include:

• Comprehensive screening of food and spice samples for illegal dyes
• Validation as per national and international regulatory requirements
• Export compliance testing for EU, US, GCC, and ASEAN markets
• Detailed quantification and trace-level detection reports
• Routine and surveillance testing support for food businesses

Protect your brand and meet global safety standards with our illegal dye testing services.

At every stage of the food supply chain, maintaining hygiene, preventing spoilage, and avoiding contamination are essential priorities for processors, exporters, manufacturers, and retailers. Protecting consumer health by testing for the presence of harmful micro-organisms in your food products can be achieved with reliable microbial analysis.
This analysis can ensure the constant safety of food products along the supply chain. Monitoring of efficient microbes which may be present during production or in the final product is similarly essential.

Our team of experts uses cutting-edge technology to test for the presence of pathogens and help consumers assess the safety and efficacy of ingredients, semi-manufactured foods, final products, and the entire processing steps or supply chain.

An extensive range of testing methods is offered to assess the safety of food matrices, including traditional techniques such as cell culture with selective agars and other biochemical assays, which are time-consuming processes, as well as advanced approaches like spectroscopy chromatography, PCR, VIDAS, and many more. Additionally, detecting the presence of harmful microbes like food-borne pathogens, allergens, and food fraud is much easier and more precise with DNA-based biomolecular technologies.

The list of microbial tests includes those for

• Total Plate Count
• Yeast & Mold
• Coliforms
• Escherichia coli and O157 :H7
• Salmonella species
• Enterobacteriaceae
• Lactic Acid Bacteria
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Bacillus cereus
• Shigella species
• Campylobacter
• Spore-forming Mesophilic bacteria
• Spore-forming Thermophilic bacteria
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Clostridium species
• Cronobacter sakazakki
• Listeria monocytogenes & spp
• Thermophilic Flat sour spore formers
• Vibrio cholerae
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus
• Fecal streptococci
• MS2 Phage
• GMO & cotton GMO by RT PCR
• Salmonella by RT PCR
• Sesame allergen by RT PCR
• Vegan test by RT PCR
• C.botulinum
• Alicyclobacillus (TAB)
• Heat resistance mold
• Helminth eggs in wastewater
• EN 1276 – Evaluation of the bactericidal activity of chemical disinfectants
• EN 13697 – Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics – Quantitative non-porous surface test for the evaluation of bactericidal and/or fungicidal activity
• AATCC 100 – Antimicrobial fabric test
• AATCC 147 – Antimicrobial Activity of Textile Materials

In addition, we offer shelf life and stability analysis as well as special developments including verifications, validation, challenge studies, and more.

Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons (MOH), including MOSH (Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons) and MOAH (Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons), are chemical compounds that may unintentionally migrate into food from packaging materials, lubricants, or environmental sources. While MOSH may accumulate in human tissues, MOAH—especially those with multiple aromatic rings—are suspected to be potentially carcinogenic.

We provide highly sensitive and reliable MOAH & MOSH testing using online LC-GC-FID and LC-GC-MS technologies to detect and quantify mineral oil residues even at low ppb levels.

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Why MOAH & MOSH Testing Is Crucial

• Detection of packaging-based contamination
• Quality assurance for edible oils, cereals, chocolate, and dry foods
• Identification of mineral oil migration in long shelf-life products
• Support for “clean label” and “no mineral oil” claims
• Prevention of product recalls and import rejections

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Evolving Regulatory Landscape

Global regulators and industry stakeholders are increasing scrutiny on MOH contamination:

• European Commission has issued recommendations (e.g., EU 2017/84) for monitoring MOAH/MOSH in food and food contact materials, especially in infant and children’s products.
• FSSAI (India) is reviewing alignment with global best practices and has acknowledged growing concerns related to MOAH/MOSH migration from packaging.
• Several food retailers in Europe now demand non-detectable levels of MOAH in private-label products.
• German BfR and EFSA have recommended continuous monitoring, especially in dry foods packaged in recycled materials.

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Test With Confidence

Our lab ensures:

• State-of-the-art LC-GC-FID/MS instrumentation
• Low detection limits, suitable for infant food and exports
• Rapid turnaround and expert analytical support
• Compliance-ready reports for regulatory audits and certifications

Ensure your product is safe, compliant, and market-ready with our MOAH & MOSH testing solutions.

Food-related regulations specify that for all packaged food items the composition and nutritional values be declared on the label. With greater ease, of making healthier food choices, the nutritional labeling testing concept developed in India and today it is mandatory that nutritional information of almost all processed foods should be displayed on food items.

Appropriate analysis and nutritional labeling are important to approve a food product for sale in the market by the government regulatory bodies. Nutritional information on the label also helps the consumers to make choices for healthy foods by comparing the nutritional ingredients between different brands. It acts as an important source of information to consumers with specific needs like infants, old aged, and also about allergens, intolerances like sugar, citrus, lactose, etc.

Nutritional facts on the product labels are mandatory on almost all food products. This follows the implementation of the FDA Nutrition Labelling and Education Act (NLEA).

Eureka offers precise and reliable analysis for Nutritional labeling and also supports label claims for manufacturers, retailers, importers, and exporters that can help with compliance, address consumer concerns and create awareness in the minds of consumers.
We provide consultation on labeling requirements to help you ascertain the tests that need to be conducted for nutritional content like:

• Calorific value
• Energy
• Protein
• Vitamin
• Mineral
• Carbohydrate
• Sugar
• Fibre
• Fats
• Saturated Fatty Acids
• Monounsaturated Fatty Acids

Find out more about our individual testing services that can use to help you remain compliant and your customers satisfied.

Pesticides are well-known as potentially toxic compounds to humans. Health effects may be acute or delayed in those who are exposed. Long-term exposure to pesticides may cause severe health complications, such as occupational exposure to the organic pesticide namely, rotenone has been linked with an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. Nowadays consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits is increased in quantities but it is this fresh produce that is most vulnerable to pesticide residues. Extreme use of pesticides/fertilizers in farming for the production of excessive food products especially fruits, vegetables, and many other crops can lead to habitat loss. This leads to potential risks to food safety by entering the food chain.

Consumer concerns and government regulations are increasingly focusing on the safety of foods. However, there are many regulatory hurdles and strategic difficulties that can cause costly time-to-market delays in the industry. Our experts can help you to overcome these challenges through analysis and implementation of our Quality Assurance expertise. Pesticide residue analysis identifies the residue levels in food products by performing standard chemical and microbiological tests by giving food manufacturers, producers, and exporters assurance of their product ingredients.

At Eureka, we offer reliable, accurate, and well-established quantitative methods to meet the needs of industry and government, in an effort to ensure a safe and reliable food supply. We lay emphasis on the most sensitive techniques for sample preparation and testing to overcome the significant challenge of detecting “low levels of these chemicals” in complex matrices by performing express analytics within 24-48 hour-testing
We perform chromatographic techniques such as LC/MS/MS and GC/MS/MS systems and all methods have been developed and validated in compliance with the latest USFDA, CODEX, and other national and international requirements for rapid screening of pesticide residues in various foodstuffs.

Pesticide residue analysis,
o As per EU
o As per APEDA
o As per USP 561
o As per FSSAI
o AS per SFDA
o As per Codex
o As per Korean regulation
o As per EP
o As per USDA NOP for organic
o As per US NOP for organic food
o Special molecules & Plant growth regulators

 

Food contaminants are well-defined as spoiled or tainted foods because they either contain microorganisms, such as bacteria or parasites, or toxic substances that make them unfit for consumption. A food contaminant can be either biological, chemical, or physical in nature, with the former being more common. These contaminants have several routes throughout the supply chain (farm to fork) to enter which makes the food product unfit for consumption.

It is evidently acknowledged, “food contamination that occurs in one place may affect the health of consumers living on the other side of the planet”. Contamination issues are volatile both in terms of their nature and size, and as such can be costly in terms of lost productivity and vastly negotiated timeframes. An initial solution for the contamination issue is mandatory, it is essential that the solution is long-lasting and that confidence to restore the ongoing productivity.

Contamination of fresh produce is emerging as a major food safety challenge. Eureka’s expertise is well experienced in identifying a wide range of contamination occurring from production lines to processes. Our team offers precise and reliable contamination testing and identification by using analytical techniques such as HPLC, GC, GC-MS, LC-MS-MS, GC-MS-MS, GC-HS-MS, ICP-OES, ICP-MS, FTIR, ELISA, PCR, UV-VIS, NMR and much more accordingly. The contamination testing laboratory has vast experience and expert insight quickly determines the accurate analytical approach to employ to solve a wide range of contamination issues faced by customers, exporters & manufacturers.

Our testing service can determine trace levels of contaminants which includes,

• Melamine
• Residues
• Heavy Metals
• Dioxins
• GMO
• Mycotoxins and more

It is mandatory for a food producer to declare a “best before” or “use by” date for “safety” and “health” reasons. The “health” reason is applicable to food that is intended by the manufacturer to form the sole source of nutrition for a person’s diet for a specified period. This will apply where storage affects the critical nutrient profile of products such as infant formula or special dietary foods manufactured to provide the sole source of nutrition to persons who are ill or are unable to eat normal foods.

The “safety” reason is applicable to food that can become microbiologically unsafe before the food noticeably spoils. This will not apply to shelf-stable, frozen or most raw foods but may apply to certain chilled ready-to-eat foods, for example, chilled meals and salads. The development of “use by” dates for safety reasons is discussed below. A “best before” date is applicable to food where deterioration affects consumer acceptance without impacting health and safety. Many product changes will affect consumer acceptance, including:

• Organoleptic properties
• Rancidity
• Texture changes
• Moisture loss
• Moisture gain
• Staling
• Flavor loss
• Light induced changes
• Microbial spoilage

Species identification in food products has been the subject of an increasing number of reports because of its importance in food authentication and due to major advances in analytical methods.
Species identification is an important part in food authentication for several reasons, such as food safety, food choice, and religious practices. The presence of non-declared protein may have serious health consequences for persons suffering from an allergy. Animal-derived ingredients have to be absent in foods for vegetarians and vegans.

DNA Barcoding
Species identification has traditionally been based on morphological data and implemented in dichotomous identification keys. With easy access to increasingly affordable DNA sequencing, specimens can also be identified through sequence similarity in taxonomically curated sequence databases. Even a very short stretch of DNA can be sufficiently informative to enable the clustering of conspecific species. A single molecular marker is therefore often sufficient for DNA “barcoding,” where a unique sequence of a particular marker is referred to as a species barcode.

Food sensory analysis is the use of the human senses to objectively analyze foods – for properties such as taste, flavor and texture. It is used in assessing the quality of products, troubleshooting problems and new product development.
What does the food actually look and taste like? Describing the taste of a food in a scientific way that can be interpreted by others and then using this to improve product quality in some way is a valuable and perhaps under–appreciated technique. Sensory analysis can be broken down into three sub-sections:

• Analytical testing (dealing with objective facts about products)
• Affective testing (dealing with subjective facts such as preferences)
• Perception (the biochemical and psychological aspects of sensation)

Eureka has a team of experienced food tasters who can evaluate the flavor, odour and texture characteristics of products. Advanced statistical analysis then allows products to be grouped, and their similarities and differences quantified. These analyses can also be ‘checked’ as per customer’s Internal document and/ or National and International document to verify if the product meets requirements.