Phytocontrol, your partner for microbiological food analysis
For more than 15 years, Phytocontrol laboratories have been helping the food industry to control microbiological risk and play a key role in guaranteeing the safety and quality of these products.
Food microbiology analysis is an essential means of continuously ensuring the safety of your products throughout the supply chain, from production to consumption. Microorganisms include bacteria, viruses, yeasts, moulds and other microscopic organisms that can contaminate our food.
Some of the health risks associated with food microbiology include :
- Infections: contamination of food with pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Listeria and Campylobacter can lead to food-borne infections. These infections can cause symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and, in some serious cases, potentially fatal complications
- Poisoning: certain micro-organisms produce toxins that can contaminate food and cause serious health problems in living beings..
- Spoilage:certain micro-organisms, such as moulds and yeasts, can alter the quality of food by causing decomposition, fermentation or the formation of mycotoxins.
- Allergens: certain micro-organisms can produce proteins that trigger allergic reactions in some people. In addition, cross-contamination of foods with common allergens can also pose a risk to allergy sufferers.
- Antibiotic resistance:the excessive use of antibiotics in agriculture can contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. If these bacteria find their way into food, they can potentially lead to infections that are difficult to treat.
To mitigate these risks, it is essential to follow rigorous hygiene practices throughout the food chain, implement quality control and food safety procedures, and comply with current health regulations. Microbiological monitoring of food is also crucial to identifying and preventing the presence of potentially dangerous micro-organisms.
The FCD (Fédération du Commerce et de la Distribution) recently published its new specifications, effective from 1 January 2024: consult the new criteria.
Phytocontrol helps you to control risk
Phytocontrol is equipped with the latest technologies in the field, skilfully combining traditional and rapid analysis methods for research and enumeration, with the most advanced emerging techniques, such as real-time PCR or MALDI-TOF to identify bacterial and yeast strains. This approach not only improves turnaround times, but also ensures optimum confirmation of results.
All the Phytocontrol Group's laboratories are accredited in the field of food microbiology, respectively by COFRAC for the Nîmes (accreditations n°1-1904 and n°1-6066) and Rennes (accreditation n°1-6634) sites, and by ENAC for the Barcelona site (accreditations n°282/LE590 and n°282/LE567).
Need technical, regulatory or pricing information? Our customer service is available from 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.
