With the establishment of a contaminants laboratory, the Food Development Center (FDC) of the National Food Authority (NFA) expressed optimism on Saturday that the country's agricultural, fisheries and animal foods and food products will be at par with products in the international market. The state-of-the-art testing equipment, located at the FDC laboratory in Taguig City, is capable of detecting new contaminants and can trace even low levels of such contaminants in foods, such as residues of veterinary drugs, antibiotics and pesticides, especially in agricultural, fish and fisheries products.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) designated FDC to operate the contaminants laboratory with state-of-the-art testing equipment, such as the Liquid Chromatograph tandem Mass Spectrometer or LC/MS/MS. With the designation of FDC as DA's contaminants laboratory, it shall conduct all official testing for contaminants for the department and its agencies for their surveillance programs, regulatory approval of foods and its raw materials for export or import, research and for other purposes.
DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF REPRODUCTIVE AND DEVELOPMENT TOXICITY TESTS FOR ASSESSING THE HAZARDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS: (Armstrong Laboratory) AL/EQ-TR-1996-0001.
Food industries and other private sector organizations can also avail themselves of the laboratory services for a fee. In a statement, the DA said the use of a contaminants laboratory will strengthen the country's compliance to tests and analysis with international protocols such as Codex Alimentarius Commission (CODEX). CODEX is the international standard setting body for contaminants in food. The DA also said that the CODEX ensures that local food products are safe, making them globally competitive. At the same time, it promotes fair practices in food trade. CODEX was established by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop food standards to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in food trade
Laboratory Detection of Contaminants, Chapter VII
Unknown non-food chemical contaminants: challenges in laboratory analysis.: An article from: Canadian Chemical News
An article from: Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association
Laboratory measurements of contaminant attenuation of uranium mill tailings leacates by sediments and clay liners