Friday 4th March 2016
ALS's Carlisle laboratory was the venue earlier this week for the latest of its Client Workshops. These interactive events have previously been held at other ALS laboratory sites such as Chatteris, Mirfield, Sittingbourne and Trowbridge and have become a popular fixture for technical teams from across ALS's client base which includes many leading food manufacturers and retailers.
Wednesday's Workshop was attended by a host of food manufacturers from Cumbria, Lancashire and Scotland and focussed on 3 main areas:
Topical questions on Microbiology (hosted by Andy Muirhead, ALS Microbiologist)
- The growth of microorganisms – why doesn’t the sum of the parts always equal the TVC?
- The effects of time and environmental conditions on enumeration counts during storage and shelf life.
- Key indicator organisms and pathogens
- Why does the laboratory report presumptive pathogen results and why don’t they always confirm?
An Introduction to Nutritional Chemistry (presented by Timothy Lumb, Nutritional Chemistry Laboratory Manager)
- Nutritional Labelling (incl. commentary on FIR regulations)
- Nutritional sampling and sample prep
- Nutritional Analysis – Moisture, Protein, Fat, Ash, Fibre, Sugar, Sodium, Fatty Acids, Carbohydrate & Energy.
- Nutritional Rounding & Tolerances
Getting the most from Webtrieve (presented by Zilah Chaudhry, Client Support Manager)
Clients also got the chance to tour the laboratory at Carlisle and meet the team of expert analysts who carry out their routine testing.
If you are interested in benefiting from attending one of ALS's future client workshops, please contact our Client Services Team on 01354 697028 or via e-mail at [email protected].