Application Notes: General

All food products should be of trustworthy quality and purity, not just for consumer safety but also to ensure product authenticity and the accuracy of product labels. This is especially important for olive oils, of which there are many different types based on quality (e.g. refined, extra virgin, etc.). In some circumstances, high quality oils can be adulterated with other lower quality olive oils or oils from a different source, like canola or soybean.

Efficient and reliable sample preparation is essential for food manufacturers and contract laboratories tasked with delivering accurate, regulatory-compliant analytical data. From elemental testing to nutritional profiling, laboratories must manage increasingly complex matrices while maintaining fast turnaround times and data integrity. This paper explores how microwave sample preparation technologies—including digestion, extraction, and hydrolysis—support high-throughput food and feed analysis. It will also address the “total workflow” approach that ultimately helps labs reduce processing time, improve data quality, and enhance operational efficiency across a wide range of applications. Light Labs, a modern analytical testing facility committed to food safety and lab efficiency, is also featured for how they leverage single reaction chamber (SRC) microwave technology to streamline trace metals analysis.

Pt-Co, Hazen, and APHA color are three different terms referring to the same color analysis procedure often used to assess the yellowness of water samples. In this analysis a mixture of cobalt chloride and potassium hexachloroplatinate(IV) is prepared and subsequently diluted by varying amounts to form an array of yellow to almost colorless standards, as described in ASTM D1209 and ISO 6271:2015.

Advanced Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and microscopy enable efficient material identification, quality control, and troubleshooting throughout the packaging value chain. This article highlights modern tools like PerkinElmer’s Spectrum Two Polymer ID Analyzer and Spotlight™ Aurora FTIR Microscope, which streamline raw material analysis, resolve multilayer laminate issues, and support circular economy goals through improved recycling and microplastics characterization.

Discover the latest ICP-MS best practices in Spectroscopy’s “Advances in ICP-MS” supplement. Explore solutions for ultra-trace elemental analysis, from optimizing nebulizer designs to mitigating contamination risks from reagents, labware, microplastics, and microbes.