Evaluating the microbial safety of your food product

Running full challenge tests on batches produced in NIZO’s pilot plant

Verifying that you can produce a safe, high-quality and stable finished product is fundamental to introducing a new or modified food into the market. Before beginning full-scale production, you want to be sure that your formulation and process are safe from contamination by pathogens or spoilers. After all, fixing problems after the fact is more costly than identifying and addressing them early on – and safety is your license to produce!

Preventing contamination problems before full production

NIZO offers both the facilities and expertise to evaluate the microbial safety and stability of your product, from start to finish. In our own, on-site food-grade pilot plant, we can produce small batches, and conduct full challenge tests for pathogens and spoilers. This can include assessing potential inactivation, outgrowth, toxin formation and other product characteristics that are important during shelf life.

With the results, we can confirm that you meet the industry standards for the type of product (whether dairy, plant-based, shelf-stable, etc.) and process. And we can evaluate the effectiveness of your bioprotection, fermentation or other strategy against pathogens and spoilers.

Our multidisciplinary expertise includes food manufacturing, formulation and processing, as well as microbiology, bioinformatics, production upscaling modelling and more. We put it all to work to offer you targeted and practical advice on interpreting the data and developing preventative measures in process and product formulation.

NIZO can:

• Produce batches of your product
• Conduct full challenge tests
• Verify the effectiveness of your process, bioprotection, fermentation or other strategies against pathogens and spoilers
• Store the contaminated products safety
• Provide an independent assessment of your product

Interpret the data and deliver expert advice on preventative measures