Thermo Fisher opens food safety response centre

Laboratory and instrument giant Thermo Fisher Scientific, has opened a global food testing laboratory with the aim of containing costly and life-threatening chemical contamination crises.

The move comes after governments around the world were caught out by the melamine in milk crisis in China, which claimed the lives of at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 before the food tampering was contained.

According to the company, the centre, located in Dreieich, Germany, has been equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and will be staffed by world-class chemists to develop the analytical methods needed to detect the contaminant. The staff will then recommend the best methods, instrumentation, equipment and supplies necessary to give food safety professionals around the world the capability to rapidly detect the contaminant.

‘Identification and containment of food toxicity require a rapid response, otherwise the threat to human health and global commerce is magnified with each passing day,’ said Marc Casper, chief executive of Thermo Fisher Scientific.

‘Chemical contamination in food is a growing and costly threat, including risks from environmental contamination and naturally occurring toxins. Our Food Safety Response Center will be a valuable resource whenever food companies, governments and the people they serve are at risk. It’s an excellent example of how we enable our customers to make the world safer.’