| | In addition to general purpose screens which are applicable to most
types of food crops, Columbia Food Laboratories specializes in pesticide
screens and other groups of tests designed for specific commodities. Our
customers often are key partners in the design of these profiles.
Commodity Profiles
Custom Profiles
- Domestic Profiles
- For general purpose screening the Columbia Pesticide Profile (P2200)
is the most comprehensive and economical screen we offer. However,
sometimes it is necessary to focus on pesticides used on specific
commodities. In that case there may be compounds applied which
cannot be easily determined by the P2200 methodology. And, some
compounds which are detectable by the P2200 are not applied or of
interest. In situations such as this we are able to work with our
customers to design special combinations of pesticides specifically
for their commodity. Since these types of profiles might include
pesticides which must be determined using individual (specific)
methods, the cost may be higher than the P2200. However, where
possible we will combine pesticides into groups which are analyzed
using similar methodology in order to minimize the cost.
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- EU Profiles
- Food products which will be exported to European Union countries
must meet their pesticide MRL standards. We are able to help by
designing pesticide profiles for those products. Most countries will
perform their own testing on imported food products. However, if a
violative residue can be detected before shipping much expense
can be avoided as a result of having the shipment rejected.
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- Japanese Positive List Profiles
- In May 2006 Japan initiated the "Positive List" system.
Under this system MRL's are established for over 750 agricultural
chemicals, varying by commodity. In cases where no MRL is established
a "uniform limit" of 0.01 ppm applies. Food which does not
conform to these MRL's cannot be sold or used in Japan. Companies who
wish to export to Japan must insure that their products comply or risk
losses. The Japanese government does not require foreign exporters to
test their products, since they will be performing their own testing
when the commodity reaches Japan. However, Japanese importers will
likely require it before they will risk buying foreign products. To
analyze for all chemicals on the positive list would be prohibitively
expensive for most exporters. A knowledge of which chemicals are being
used by the growers on a particular crop can be very helpful in
reducing the cost of testing. From the beginning of the positive list
implementation we have helped our customers develop pesticide screens
for products to be exported to Japan. And, Columbia Food Laboratories
is on the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's list of
approved foreign laboratories. Please contact us for assistance.
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