Belfast-based Bia Analytical Ltd has expanded and now offers rapid authenticity testing for four herbs and spices – oregano, sage, black pepper and turmeric.
The company will also start providing bespoke model development services for customers with specific authenticity testing needs and is preparing for the launch of its portable solution that provides instant authenticity testing results at the point of sampling.
Bia Analytical started out as a Queen’s University spin out company in 2020. Its aim is to become the industry-recognised test provider for authenticity of food ingredients “to ensure food integrity across global supply chains.”
Following successful seed funding at the start of 2020, Bia Analytical kicked off its research and development work in April last year but faced a range of challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
It has now completed the work on building new chemometric models for black pepper and turmeric.
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These models are used in conjunction with spectroscopic instruments to provide accurate authenticity testing and detect Economically Motivated Adulteration (EMA) in food ingredients.
The team carried out extensive work on identifying the most sold varieties of the spices and countries of origin, sourcing many authentic samples and adulterant materials.
The firm says this work is essential to support businesses who trade in these commodities and food companies who sell produce to consumers.
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Dr Terry McGrath, Founder and CTO said: “Although the pandemic has brought new challenges in the way we work, the team managed to analyse the hundreds of samples necessary to complete these complex models that are used in our laboratory testing service. The data will also be incorporated in the new portable device that we are planning to launch later this year.
Professor Chris Elliott, Founder and President added: “This is a big step and I am delighted to see the company realising my vision of providing rapid and reliable authenticity testing to further strengthen the integrity of the global food supply chain.
“We will continue to work with key industry partners and our customers to make sure our service offering meets the market needs and supports the on-going fight against food fraud.”
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Source: Press release
