What is food testing? How to understand it?
Food refers to various finished products and raw materials for human consumption or drinking, as well as items that are traditionally both food and Chinese herbal medicine, but does not include items intended for therapeutic purposes. Food testing, also known as food safety testing, refers to testing for harmful substances in food according to national standards, mainly focusing on testing for harmful and toxic indicators, in order to control food quality and ensure that food is safe for consumption. The nutritional components of food can also be determined through food testing, thus understanding the nutritional value of the food.
Food safety testing laboratories are distributed throughout the entire food distribution chain. Distribution chain: self-built or jointly built rapid testing laboratories in farmers' markets, supermarkets, and wholesale markets. Livestock product safety testing: food safety testing laboratories for meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products led by the animal husbandry bureau. Food production chain: rapid testing laboratories in catering service units, central kitchen food safety testing laboratories, and central testing laboratories of food production enterprises. Government supervision: third-party food safety testing laboratories commissioned for profit; food rapid testing laboratories of market supervision administrations; and food safety testing center laboratories at the county/district level.
I. Classification by Type
Food safety testing laboratories are classified according to their scale, function, and purpose:
Food safety rapid testing laboratories: suitable for farmers' markets, supermarkets, catering service units, and food rapid testing rooms of market supervision administrations;
Standard food safety testing laboratories: central kitchen testing rooms, food safety testing centers, and third-party food testing centers;
Company-owned food testing laboratories: food testing laboratories built by companies themselves to test the quality of their products according to national standards.
II. Site Selection Requirements
Distribution Chain Laboratories
1. The laboratory should be located in a clean, quiet, and well-ventilated area;
2. The laboratory should be located near the main market thoroughfares to facilitate consumer participation in "You Request, We Test" programs.
Food Production and Government Supervision Laboratories
1. The laboratory should be located in a clean and quiet area, away from residential areas, boiler rooms, and major traffic routes;
2. The laboratory should be located in a well-lit and well-ventilated area, at a certain distance from the processing workshop;
3. The laboratory should be located in a convenient workplace for sampling and testing, close to the workshop.
III. Laboratory Structure and Layout
Based on practical needs, the comprehensive laboratory mainly includes three parts: a bacteriology laboratory, a physical and chemical laboratory, and an office. The office is the administrative area for staff, where data processing and reporting, and the storage of archives and documents take place. The physical and chemical analysis laboratory is the place for preparing chemical reagents and conducting physical and chemical testing of food:
① Physical and chemical analysis room (also used as a sensory testing room), ② Instrument room (also housing a small number of instruments such as microscopes for the bacteriology laboratory). The microbiology laboratory is the operational area for microbiological testing and analysis, including: ① Bacteriological testing operation room, ② Sterile room, ③ Culture medium preparation room, ④ Washing and disinfection room.
IV. Laboratory Design and Construction
Food Safety Rapid Testing Laboratory
A rapid testing laboratory should include at least a physical and chemical laboratory and an office, and these two are often combined in the design.
Food Rapid Testing Laboratory Functional Area Division Table
Serial Number | Region Category | Area Names: | Functions: |
1 | Physicochemical analysis | Sample Preparation Area | Sample preparation |
2 | Sample Pre-treatment Area | Extraction and purification steps in the testing of pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, contaminants, and additives | |
3 | Sample Testing Area | Testing procedures for pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, contaminants, and additives | |
4 | Archive Management Area | Data processing and reporting, and archiving of documents |
Standard Food Safety Testing Laboratory
A rapid testing laboratory should include at least a physical and chemical laboratory, an office, and a microbiology laboratory. The size of the testing laboratory should be commensurate with the scale of the enterprise's production, the types of products processed, and the testing items required.
Food Rapid Testing Laboratory Functional Area Division Table
Serial Number | Area Classification | Area Name | Functions: |
1 | Physicochemical Analysis | Sample Preparation Area | Sample preparation |
2 | Sample Pre-treatment Area | Extraction and purification steps during the testing of pesticides, veterinary drug residues, contaminants, and additives. | |
3 | Sample Testing Area | Testing procedures for pH, moisture content, conductivity, acid value, peroxide value, pesticides, veterinary drug residues, contaminants, and additives. | |
4 | Microbiological Analysis | Preparation Room | Reagent preparation, sample preparation, culturing, counting, and microscopic examination. |
Buffer Room | Contamination control | ||
Clean Room | Inoculation, sterility testing, and other procedures. | ||
5 | Office Area | Archive Management Area | Data processing and reporting, and archiving of documents. |
V. Laboratory Furniture
This category mainly includes laboratory benches, instrument tables, balance tables, washing sinks, laboratory cabinets, reagent cabinets, glassware cabinets, filing cabinets, fume hoods, clean benches, laboratory stools/chairs, network cabinets, etc.
VI. Laboratory Instruments and Consumables
Glassware (beakers, test tubes, measuring cylinders, petri dishes, glass rods, funnels, cuvettes, etc.), sample pre-treatment tools (food processors, rotary evaporators, centrifuges, vortex mixers, nitrogen evaporators, shakers, sterile homogenizers, autoclaves, microscopes, colony counters, etc.), auxiliary equipment (water baths, electronic balances, electric furnaces, magnetic stirrers, pipettes, pure water systems, pH meters, conductivity meters, surface and core thermometers, etc.), testing equipment (spectrophotometers, enzyme immunoassay analyzers, pesticide residue rapid testers, multi-functional food safety analyzers, heavy metal rapid testers, mycotoxin rapid testers, ATP detectors, edible oil polar component detectors, residual chlorine detectors, constant temperature fluorescence PCR detectors, etc.), and test kits (pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, illegal additives, food additives, cleanliness, culture media, etc.).
VII. Implementation Process of the Overall Solution for Food Testing Center Laboratories:
1. Food Testing Laboratory Planning and Design:
Project initiation → Communication of requirements → Site survey → Solution design → Preparation of feasibility study report → Project approval → Preliminary design → Construction drawing design → Design review and verification → Cost estimation.
2. Food Testing Laboratory Solution:
1. Food testing laboratory site selection
2. Ensuring compliance with environmental impact assessment and fire safety regulations
3. Meeting the specific requirements of the laboratory
3. Food Testing Laboratory Planning and Design:
√ Food testing laboratory floor plan
√ Food testing laboratory furniture layout plan
√ Food testing laboratory instrument and equipment placement plan
√ Food testing laboratory interior design and decoration drawings
√ Food testing laboratory water supply and drainage design drawings
√ Food testing laboratory central pure water system design drawings
√ Food testing laboratory wastewater treatment system design drawings
√ Food testing laboratory electrical design drawings
√ Food testing laboratory HVAC design drawings (supply air, exhaust air, cleanroom air conditioning, general air conditioning, etc.)
√ Food testing laboratory exhaust gas treatment design drawings (organic waste gas, inorganic waste gas, etc.)
√ Food testing laboratory centralized gas supply design drawings
4. Food Testing Laboratory Renovation and Construction:
√ Laboratory main structure construction
√ Laboratory interior decoration and renovation
√ Laboratory electrical system construction
√ Laboratory ventilation system construction
√ Laboratory cleanroom system construction
√ Laboratory water supply and drainage system construction
√ Laboratory furniture system construction
√ Laboratory gas supply system construction
√ Laboratory pure water system construction
√ Laboratory electronic and intelligent systems construction
√ Laboratory waste gas and wastewater treatment facilities construction
5. Food Testing Laboratory Furniture Configuration
1. Customized furniture (brand, size, material, color, etc.)
2. Detailed furniture quotation
3. Furniture after-sales maintenance
6. Main Equipment Configuration of Food Testing Laboratory
√ UV-Vis Spectrophotometer
√ Atomic Absorption Spectrometer
√ Gas Chromatograph
√ Liquid Chromatograph
√ Near-Infrared Analyzer
√ Fatty Acid Analyzer
√ Moisture Analyzer
√ Kjeldahl Nitrogen Analyzer
7. Food Testing Laboratory Qualification Application:
√ Laboratory CNAS Accreditation Consulting
√ Laboratory CMA Qualification Certification Consulting
√ Agricultural Product Testing Qualification (CATL) Consulting
8. Food Testing Laboratory Accreditation Application Process
On-site survey and gap analysis >>> Submission of assessment report >>> Preparation for management system implementation >>> Establishment of management system >>> System operation and improvement >>> Internal audit and management review >>> Submission of application >>> On-site assessment >>> Obtaining the certificate >>> Follow-up services.