For almost four decades Romer Labs has been listening to the needs of customers in Australia, New Zealand, and the entire APAC region by delivering innovative diagnostic solutions for the food and beverage industry. Romer Labs realised that its customers were interested in three core areas – analytical services, technical support and customer training.
Romer Labs has established itself in the region for providing accredited mycotoxin analytical services, which is expanding in the form of multi-mycotoxin analysis 50+. This means a single report can give specific information on more than 50 mycotoxins that can be present in any one sample.
In response to demand from countries like Australia, the company has also integrated full-service food allergen testing facilities into its analytical offerings. It will serve the region with analytical services that cover gluten testing and the broadest range of allergenic analytes on the market including specific nut species.
To complement these new capabilities, the Romer Labs APAC Solutions Centre provides enhanced technical support, such as sample validation, troubleshooting and insight into best practices to Romer Labs’ customers.
The APAC Solutions Centre is bringing a new service to the region in the form of customised training programs, which includes workshops and webinars. It is designed to adapt to when, where and how often customers test. Romer Labs issues training certificates and other documentation that may be necessary for audits and accreditations.
Both Australia and New Zealand have stringent regulations on allergenic content in food. With its new centre, Romer Labs can provide these products to businesses who do not have access to analytical services. It can also help those customers who need training programs to help them stay efficient and compliant.
For analytical testing services, customers can expect to receive their test results in five business days for food allergen testing and six business days for mycotoxin testing. These turnaround times are based on the date of receipt of samples in the company’s laboratory. For an extra cost, customers can receive their results within a day. Customers are emailed their analytical test results in a certificate of analysis. Other communications can be directed to the APAC Solutions Centre or through a local sales representative.
Technical support is another primary service provided by Romer Labs. At times, the Centre collaborates with industry bodies for seminars or webinars to help professionals keep up with the latest trends in food safety and analysis.
Romer Lab clients include government and independent commercial consulting laboratories as well as global food manufacturers who it has helped to verify results for specific matrices that proved problematic.
One food manufacturer producing food coatings and spices used Romer Labs’ allergen test kits with positive results. A technical specialist from the Centre was engaged to examine the matter; the analysis of samples from a similar batch confirmed the results. Following discussions with the customer, the technical specialist suspected that the source of the allergen was the ingredients that were supplied to them. Tests performed on several batches of the goods confirmed this original suspicion. The company was satisfied with the result and has used the test kits on several other occasions for in-house testing.
Customers have also received technical training from Romer Labs on how to improve their capabilities for detecting ergot alkaloids using LC-MS/MS. The Romer Labs APAC Solutions Centre provided them with hands-on training in the method, and staff showed them how to apply Biopure reference materials and clean-up columns for use in their own laboratories. This is one example of customised training programs that help customers keep their food supply chain safe.