5 Questions With Dr. Virginia Gordon

Dr. Virginia Gordon has published papers in numerous scientific periodicals during her career. Her work and success in the fields of toxicology and degradation testing have led to numerous speaking engagements at scientific forums in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. She has 13 patents in the fields of testing for toxicity and degradation and other key parameters critical to the food and pet food industries.

1. What are some benefits of bringing MP Biomedical’s SafTest lipid quality analysis on-site?

Lipid quality is usually the key indicator of overall quality, consistency, and freshness of foods. Lipid quality is continuously changing and therefore should be tested on-site for speed and rapid response to changes in lipid quality. The SafTest system provides cost-effective and rapid quality results on fats, oils, and matrices on-site without the time and cost of sending samples out to an external testing lab.

2 . How do the results compare to traditional test methods?

The SafTest Methods have demonstrated excellent correlation to traditional AOCS test methods in earlier AOAC Performance Tested Methods Certification. Many articles and studies conducted by the food and pet food industries have shown that the SafTest peroxide, FFA, and fat content tests produce results similar to the comparable AOCS test methods.

3. What variability can be expected in these on-site testing methods?

Lipid quality parameters are continuously changing as are test results depending on handling, storage, and sampling. Light, heat, head space, and certain materials can affect the lipid quality parameters and may introduce variability in lab-to-lab and method-to-method testing. Lower values of these parameters may exhibit less variability, typically less than 5%, while higher values that are changing more quickly may exhibit variability greater than 20% by any method.

4. How can we make the transition to on-site testing?

With over 15 years of experience in helping industrial laboratories establish new testing methods, SafTest recommends an on-site training in performing its test methods and evaluating the results. The SafTest kits contain calibrators and a control to ensure standard test performance on-site and full QC analysis. Part of the on-site training includes sample handling, storage, and preparation for analysis.

5. How do we validate and QC new methods?

SafTest will perform analysis of a sub-set of your samples in its lab and then perform the analysis on-site at your lab. With the full QC of every lot of test kits at MP Bio, key QC results are provided with every kit. This QC data documents the slope, the reagent blank, and the control range for the kit. This allows for the rapid evaluation of test kit performance on-site in your lab. Technical support personnel are available for any questions about results or the analysis of problem samples.