Business View Oceania | Volume 4, Issue 3

93 94 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 EUROF INS FOOD TEST ING AUSTRAL I A PTY LTD Having such a strong global network covering a broad industry spectrum is what differentiates the Eurofins laboratories from others in the market. “We are by far the global leader in testing food – that’s a big strength,” says Mrs Thevenet. “Some of the testing we do is basic and customers expect that it be done quickly and in close proximity to their operations. Then there are also specialty services and troubleshooting, which can sometimes require very advanced solutions and not all of these solutions exist in Australia, but they do exist in the global Eurofins network, for example in centres of excellence in Europe, Asia and the U.S. So being able to bring these services to our clients in Australia, in addition to what we can do locally is of great value. ” Eurofins Food Testing teams around the world deliver scientific services and their job is, basically, to find information inside food. To do this, technology is absolutely paramount. According to Mrs Thevenet, “Technology is always changing and evolving, which means we can provide more accurate information to our customers and some of this can be quite revolutionary. An example would be how traditional microbiology for food safety is going through a major change by moving to DNA based analysis, and everybody now knows about PCR testing through its use for COVID-19 testing, and DNA sequencing. This is just one aspect of innovation in food testing. Technology is extremely important for us and we spend a lot of time investing to find better solutions and working with our key suppliers who are very valuable to us on that front.” Testing for Life is the mission of all Eurofins companies, and everything that Eurofins companies and colleagues do is to contribute to the health and safety of the world. That strong element of the network’s culture makes it attractive for staff recruitment and retention. Another big aspect is that the Eurofins network follows a de-centralised model. Eurofins is, checked – how much sodium, how much fat is in your food, so we do the chemistry testing for clients. Beyond that there is the whole question of authenticity – is your honey, 100% real honey? Is your basmati rice, real basmati rice? This can be fairly advanced and extremely complex testing, like DNA fingerprinting or isotopic identification. We go from very basic, high- volume testing that ensures your milk or your meat is not going to make you sick as a result of pathogenic bacteria, to advanced testing to detect whether manuka honey is being marketed fraudulently.” From the other side, Eurofins laboratories in Australia also test for pesticides in food produce, and randomly check products on behalf of retailers – the same food that the food processors would get tested themselves. Through the supply chain, everybody has an interest in making sure that food is safe and really is what it is supposed to be.