Analysis of convenience and fine food products
Your competent laboratory partner for analysing ready meals
From raw materials to ready-to-eat end products, the Eurofins Food & Feed Testing laboratories in Germany offer you expert advice and comprehensive laboratory analyses for your convenience and fine food products. Our comprehensive service portfolio ranges from testing for potential residues, contaminants and allergens to microbiological and chemical analyses, shelf life testing, labelling tests and nutritional value determination. We support you quickly and reliably with complete solutions tailored to your company and your products.
Our range of analyses and services for convenience products
Convenience products are a wide range of foods that are easy and quick to prepare. They include ready-to-eat foods, such as ready-made salads or desserts that can be eaten immediately, and partially ready-to-eat products, including ready-to-cook foods such as frozen products and microwave meals that only need to be cooked.
Whether raw materials or finished products, we are your competent partner for the analysis of the following products, among others:
- Frozen products (e.g. frozen pizzas, frozen lasagne, frozen fruit and vegetables)
- Canned products (e.g. canned tomatoes, tomato paste, canned ready meals)
- Microwave and oven ready meals (e.g. cooled lasagne)
- Cooled fresh products (e.g. desserts, fresh salads)
- Dried products (e.g. packaged soups)
- Fine food products (e.g. mayonnaises, sauces, dressings, ready-made salads)
As diverse as the convenience sector is, so are the analytical possibilities. Professional analysis and product-specific advice are therefore essential for convenience products. For example, there may be an increased risk of microbiological contamination in ready-to-eat foods, and it may be more difficult to detect possible harmful substances and contaminants in the end product in highly processed foods.
We offer a full range of analytical tests for quality assurance of convenience and fine food products. The most important ones are listed below.
Important analyses for convenience products at a glance
General food analysis
- Allergens, testing for animal ingredients (vegan)
- Nutritional analyses (including Big 7, Big 8)
- Genetically modified organisms (GMO)
Residues and contaminants
- Mycotoxins, algae toxins
- Pesticides, fumigants
- MOSH/MOAH
- Heavy metals
(cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic) - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- Dioxins, furans and PCBs
- 3-MCPD esters, glycidol
Special analysis
- Sulphurous acid and other preservatives
- Challenge tests
- Irradiation detection
- Fat indicators
(free fatty acids FFA, peroxide value POZ)
Microbiological tests
- Total bacterial count
- Listeria monocytogenes
- Salmonella
- Bacillus cereus
- Coliform bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae, E. coli, EHEC
- Yeasts, moulds
- Spores of sulphite-reducing clostridia
Further analyses and services
In addition to easy preparation, consumers are increasingly looking for products of organic origin. Organic products are subject to stringent requirements in terms of naturalness and strict legal regulations. We offer a comprehensive analysis of organic food and can assist you with all food law issues.
When placing goods on the market, both for import and export, we can also assist you with an adequate international labelling check, covering the legislation applicable in the country where the product is placed on the market and taking into account the processing of the product.
Legal classification
To ensure the quality, safety and shelf life of convenience and fine food products, compliance with strict regulations is essential. We provide you with the appropriate analysis of changing international requirements and advice based on our industry experts' many years of experience to ensure you comply with legal standards, e.g. on
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers
- Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods
- Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food
Eurofins Food Legislation News
The Eurofins Food Legislation News is published every two months and focuses on innovations in food legislation and interesting court rulings. Here you will find, among other things, regular information worth knowing about convenience and fine food products as well as a selected overview of important RASFF rapid alerts.
Memberships
Our involvement in relevant professional organisations ensures that our services are always aligned with the current demands of the market.
- Deutsches Tiefkühlinstitut e.V. (German Frozen Food Institute, in German)
- Kulinaria Deutschland e.V. (Association for manufacturers of delicatessen foods, soups and broths, ready meals, desserts and other culinary products, in German)
Get in touch with us
We support you with practical solutions and the extensive expertise of our industry experts in all analytical issues relating to convenience and delicatessen products. We look forward to your enquiry.
