Food security is currently a matter of real interest not only in the European Community, with many research and dissemination/awareness activities concentrating around the slogan “You are what you eat.” The quality and price of food, determined by the variety, purity and origin of the raw material, are the most important factors that determine the interest, acceptance and attraction of a customer for a particular food product.
The variety of analytical methods that can measure the composition of food products in a non-selective manner, such as collecting/recording of a spectrum, are commonly referred to as “fingerprinting techniques“. Such techniques are also applied within ICSI Rm. Valcea, where laboratories are known for respecting the international quality standards on testing laboratories and have a series of activities directly related to society’s requirements for food authentication in their portfolio.
ICSI Rm. Valcea offers a wide range of services for the community, for food control authorities, food industry manufacturers, analyses required for quality certification and raw material authentication. These types of analyses include: preliminary qualitative physicochemical analyses, isotopic fingerprinting (authentication of geographical and botanical origin of raw material from aliments such as wine, honey, vinegar, low-alcohol and alcoholic beverages, juices etc.), determination of heavy metals in foods, determination of volatile organic compounds (eg pesticides) at trace levels.
| Name of Test | Type of Sample |
| Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Tests | |
| Determination of 2H/1H Isotope Ratio Using Mass Spectrometry | Drinking Water, Groundwater and Surface Water, Precipitation, Light Water, Fruit Juice |
| Determination of 18o/16o Isotope Ratio using Mass Spectrometry | Drinking Water, Groundwater and Surface Water, Precipitation, Fruit Juice, Wine and other Low Alcoholic Beverages |
| Determination of 13c/12c Isotope Ratio using Mass Spectrometry | Fruit Juice, Concentrated Fruit Juice, Wine and Wine Products, other Low Alcoholic Beverages, Alcoholic Beverages, Vinegar, Honey |
| Determination of the Deuterium Distribution in Ethanol using SNIF-RMN | Wine Ethanol, Alcoholic Beverages and Grapevine Fermentation Products (Must, Concentrated Must, Rectified Concentrated Must), Juices, Fruits, Vegetables |
| Type of Analysis | Type of Sample |
| Physical Tests | |
| Determination of Alcoholic Strength | Wine and Wine Products, Alcoholic Beverages |
| Determination of Total Dry Extract | Wine and Wine Products |
| Chromatography Tests (GC-MS, GC-ECD) | |
| Determination of Content of Alpha-HCH, Beta-HCH, Gamma-HCH, Aldrin, pp’-DDE, Endrin, pp’-DDD and pp’-DDT | Low and Non-Alcoholic Beverages
|
| Type of Analysis | Type of Sample |
| Graphite Furnace and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry Test | |
| Determination of Metals (Al, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cr, Sr, Mn, Ni, etc.) | Wine, Distillates, Fruit Juice, Honey, Jams and other Food Products |
| High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Tests (HPLC) | |
| Determination of Phenolic Compounds | Wine, Fruits and Fruits Juice, Honey |
| Determination of Organic Acids | Wine, Fruits and Fruits Juice, Honey |
| Determination of Hydroxymethylfurfural
(HMF) |
Wine, Honey |
| Determination of Ochratoxin A | Wine, Grapes |
| Determination of Patulin | Apple Juice |
| Type of Analysis | Type of Sample |
| Low Background Gross-Beta Radiometry Tests | |
| Measurement of Gross Beta Activity in Soil and Ash Samples |
|
| High Resolution Gamma Spectrometry Tests | |
| Identification and Quantitative Determination of Radionuclides Emitting Gamma Radiation through High Resolution Spectrometry in Environmental Samples – Soil and Ash Sample |
|
| Sampling | |
| Sampling of Environmental Samples – Food Products of Animal and Non-Animal Origin |
|
For more information about the services provided by ICSI Rm. Vȃlcea, please email us at: office@icsi.ro