Food Testing - Physical tests, chemical tests, microbiological tests, nutritional labels, stability tests, sensory analysis and quality assurance.

SunWest Food Laboratory Ltd. offers a variety of physical, chemical and microbiological tests on on (delete) the following products: baked goods, beverages, cereals, condiments, confectionary, dairy products, egg products, fruits, meat and poultry, oil products, pasta, sea food, and vegetables.

Physical Tests – Baking trials, Brix, conductivity, density, foreign matter, gluten content, net contents, particle size, pH, refractive index, sedimentation, sensory evaluation, specific gravity, vacuum.

Chemical Tests –acidity, acid value, aflatoxins, alcohol, alpha-amylase, AOM, ash, beta-glucan, carbon dioxide, calories, carbohydrates, cholesterol, fat-acid hydrolysis, fat-ether extraction fat, fat-total, fatty acid profile, fatty acid profile with Trans, fibre-total dietary, soluble and insoluble, free fatty acids, glucosinolates, gluten allergen, metals, minerals, moisture, ochratoxins, Oxidative Stability Index (OSI), peroxidase, peroxide value, protein, rancimat, salt, starch, sugar profile, sugar-reducing and non-reducing, tocopherols, Vitamin A, Vitamin B Scan, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, volatile oil, vomitoxins, zearalenone.

Microbiological Tests (Presumptive / Confirmation) – bacillus cereus, bifidobacteria, clostridium species, clostridium perfringens, coliforms-fecal, coliforms-total, e.coli, E coli O157:H7, enterobacteriacea, lactobacillus species, listeria species, listeria monocytogenes, pseudomonas aeruginosa, salmonella, standard (total) plate count (aerobic and anaerobic), staphylococcus aureus, yeast and mold.

Nutritional Analysis - The Canadian Nutrition Facts Label is mandatory on most retail food products. CFIA recommends using a Standards Council of Canada (SCC) accredited lab to conduct the analysis. SunWest Food Laboratory Ltd. meets the requirements of accreditation (Accreditation #397) as set out in the SCC guidelines according to ISO 17025. Further details of the requirements for the Nutrition Facts Table can be found on the CFIA website:

Canadian Nutrition Facts Label – Calories, Protein, Total Fat with Saturates and Trans, Cholesterol, Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber, Sugars, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Sodium, Calcium, Iron.

U.S. Nutrition Facts Label – Calories, Calories from Fat, Protein, Total Fat with Saturates and Trans Fat, Cholesterol, Carbohydrates, Dietary Fiber, Sugars, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Sodium, Calcium, Iron.

Database calculations are available upon request.

Quality Assurance - investigate complaints, measure product quality against national and competitor brands, monitor adherence of product to government or supplier specifications, monitor product consistency, recommend product formulations.

Stability Tests - AOM, accelerated and ambient stability studies, free fatty acids, OSI (rancimat), peroxide value, sensory evaluation, shelf life.