Since the formation of FACTS in 2004, our team has been determined to remain focused on being an innovation-led, customer-centric food assurance service provider.
When assisting our clients, we instinctually rely on our core values to maintain our approach to supporting them, so that their companies can deliver safe and authentic food.
Placing value on providing input on projects which result in solution-based approaches to our clients’ challenges has allowed us to develop a cutting-edge technical team with expert skills in food science, dietetics, food technology, microbiology, biochemistry, medicine and genetics, as well as in-depth knowledge of commercial and legal frameworks.
Contact FACTS today to learn more about how our technical skills can support your food safety team.
Our ability to support our clients with our technical skills is underpinned by the strong analytical foundation of our laboratory. This too has been an area of speciality and innovation.
Connecting our technical services with the strength of our analytical department provides you, our client, with an extension of your team that will take a scientific and holistic approach to your challenges – particularly useful when definitive results and input are needed, in instances when your company is required to make important food safety decisions.
Connecting our technical services with the strength of our analytical department provides you, our client, with an extension of your team that will take a scientific and holistic approach to your challenges – particularly useful when definitive results and input are needed, in instances when your company is required to make important food safety decisions.
Our testing catalogue, originally introduced with specific allergen testing, has developed over the years to include a full bouquet of allergen tests now available to you, as well as meat- and fish-species detection and other authenticity-testing methods that can either be selected from our routine tests or custom-designed based on your specific needs. The combination of these technical and analytical skills in one company, along with our genuine inquisitiveness and an interest in scientific evidence, makes FACTS a unique company serving the food industry in South Africa.
However, this was not enough for our analytical team. Tasked with the challenge of identifying further opportunities for innovation alongside our available catalogued tests, they embarked on a journey to identify the challenges that we understand our clients experience regarding the limitations of the allergen-detection analysis methods currently available.
When we analyse for the presence of allergens, after due consideration and application of analytical know-how, our analytical and technical teams have scored the following value-add wins for our clients:
Improved turnaround time: Until now, receipt of results has been slowed by the analysis methods used. Over the years our team has reduced this lag by improving process flows; however, a limit had been reached. We are pleased to announce that with the new advances we have made in terms of our technology, we have been able to reduce our lead time for delivery of our clients’ allergen-detection results.
Eradication of cross-reactivity: Cross-reactivity is the most frequent cause of false-positive results in allergen detection; a product sample may appear positive, despite the allergen not being present in the sample. This is a global challenge, relating to antibody production for commercial testing kits, that all laboratories face – even ours, despite our analytical team taking all precautions and always selecting the most suitable kits for the different allergens listed in our testing catalogue. Although not a concern for some of our clients, when cross-reactivity does occur it can be a real challenge. Our technology developments have put an end to this problem.
Detection of allergens in processed food: Some assay targets depend on the precise three-dimensional structure of an allergen remaining intact for detection. This means that food processing (which often involves hydrolysis and denaturation) could result in these proteins becoming undetectable. The biological significance of this is not always clear, as with some allergens, the conformation of the allergen is key to its allergenicity; with others, it is not. Our analytical team advises our clients on how to manage this challenge and presents solutions that will achieve the best results. We are now very excited to offer an innovation that will accurately measure proteins in any form in which they might be a risk.
Cost structure advantages: In addition to the benefits described above, the analytical innovation described has allowed for increased flexibility, by which we are able to extend improved volume-based cost structures.
Contact FACTS today to identify how this analysis could support your food safety team.
Allergen testing is used to support validation studies, detect contamination, support claims, and so on; thus, when an allergen is detected unexpectedly, the results must be fed back to the food safety risk assessment. It may be necessary to adjust an existing allergen control, review cleaning and sanitation programmes, or consider the use of an allergen precautionary labelling statement, where cross-contamination cannot be controlled. Here, our technical team apply their knowledge of food safety systems, production environments, equipment design, the South African regulatory framework and the VITAL® risk-assessment tool, among other factors, to guide clients and find practical solutions – speeding up solution delivery and corrective actions.
Our interpretation services include assisting you, our client, with managing your response should a consumer have an allergic reaction after consuming your food product.
Contact FACTS today to assist with assessing your allergen result in terms of your food safety requirements.
FACTS vision: Striving to be a globally recognised, innovation-led, customer-centric food-assurance service provider.
