Contact

What are you looking for?

Food Hygiene Testing

Food hygiene testing services from SGS – a full range of food safety and sanitation tests to demonstrate compliance to hygiene regulations.

Protecting your brand and consumers from contamination is paramount for food service operators and manufacturers. Contaminants, allergens and microorganisms, are easily transmitted, but correct handling procedures and an efficient testing regime can minimize the risk of contamination.

Samples (swabs) are taken at the customer level in, for example, restaurants, hotels, hospitals and manufacturing facilities. Swabs are then sent to our ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratories for microorganism and allergen testing. We employ traditional and rapid microorganism testing, as well as allergen testing.

Indicator species

Managing costs and turnaround times is important; delays can expose employees and consumers to unacceptable risk. Indicator species testing is an intelligent way to assess sanitation and conditions in a manner that can deliver an early warning of contamination issues and highlight the need for further diagnostic testing. Common indicators that are tested for include:

  • Total aerobic count
  • Yeast and mold
  • Sulfite-reducing Clostridia
  • Fecal coliforms
  • Enterobactericeae
  • Enterococcus spp.
  • Staphylococcus aureus
  • Escherichia coli

And, for environmental pathogen monitoring:

  • Salmonella spp.
  • Listeria spp.

Regulatory requirements

Food safety and sanitation testing varies according to the food hygiene regulations of the operating country and the product. Our experts can advise you on the relevant testing regulations and requirements.

Effective testing helps prevent contaminated products reaching consumers, reduces the risk of destroying products on the strength of ‘false positive’ test results. An improperly designed and implemented testing program may result in contaminated product being released into the supply chain.

Contact your local SGS office to access our global network of ISO/IEC 17025 accredited food testing laboratories.

Catch up on Food Webinars
Stay up to date with on-demand webinars from our experts.

Related Services

News & Insights

  • SGS Canada Inc.

6755 Mississauga Road, Suite 204,

, L5N 7Y2,

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada