BIOLAN BIOFISH 3000 SUL for measuring sulphite in crustaceans, recognised as an official method (OMA) by AOAC International
This approval is the highest international recognition of BIOLAN’s technology for sulphite quantification and becomes the second official method for this purpose.
The crustacean sector will now have an official, competitive, digital and sustainable alternative for food safety control.
The AOAC International has included BIOLAN’s BIOFISH 3000 SUL method for the quantification of sulphite in crustaceans as Official Method 2021.09 under the demanding Official Methods of AnalysisSM (OMA) programme, becoming the company’s second official method, which also offers advantages never seen before to the shrimp sector.
After an exhaustive validation process that has lasted months, the satisfactory results have demonstrated the robustness of the BIOLAN method, a biotechnological company that, with 14 years of presence in the market, has achieved for the second time the highest recognition of the prestigious certification association. The globally recognised AOAC, which is responsible for developing chemical and microbiological standards that provide analytical solutions, is considered to be of great importance, as it brings together governments, industry and academia to establish standardised methods of analysis to ensure the safety and integrity of food and other products that affect public health around the world.
In the crustacean industry, sulphite is added to prevent melanosis after the catching of shellfish throughout the production and handling process. Melanosis is an enzymatic oxidation reaction that is triggered by the death of the animal and, although it does not affect the taste of the food or the healthiness of the consumer, it does have a drastic impact on the visual acceptability to the consumer, and therefore on the perceived value to the market. It should be stressed that sulphite is a mandatory control parameter for export and consumption, and therefore fast, accurate, simple and intelligent measurement tools are essential. Inaccurate quantification of the amount of sulphite could result in the non-export of the product, with the consequent impact on the economy of the producing countries.
Against this background, it is essential that sulphite measurement evolves from analogue and artisanal methods to an innovative, digital solution that allows operating companies to be at the forefront of global market demands.
BIOFISH 3000 SUL is capable of quantifying sulphite in crustaceans, both raw and cooked, in two applications covering different quantification ranges: Industry and Regulatory. BIOLAN biosensors allow reliable, simple and cost-effective sulphite quantification, enabling the crustacean industry to perform their own controls immediately. The methodology is further enhanced by working with the BIO 3000 generation of biosensors with IoT capabilities, connectivity and an interface designed to make the analytical act a friendly and intuitive process.
The integration of digitised tools into industrial processes opens up a whole world of new, previously unconsidered possibilities in terms of data generation, exploitation and understanding. The possibilities are enormous and that is where BIOLAN wants to be, accompanying its customers closely to continue creating value.
It is equally important to highlight that BIOFISH 3000 SUL is a product that has been developed according to eco-design criteria, which has a life cycle and environmental footprint analysis, which avoids the use of toxic reagents, or pollutants for both the user and the environment. This enables the shrimp industry to also meet its environmental commitment and the sustainability of its operations and activities.
The expected news from the AOAC may lead the BIOFISH 3000 SUL method to become the worldwide reference method for the control of sulphite by the food industry, and displace complex, costly and harmful methodologies due to the use of dangerous compounds.
The consideration as an official method by AOAC International demonstrates that BIOLAN’s biosensor technology is able to guarantee accuracy and reliability comparable to the current official reference method, providing the food industry with innovative and competitive analytical tools.
BIOLAN has taken advantage of its participation in the AQUA EXPO GUAYAQUIL fair (Ecuador), one of the most important shrimp events in the world, to announce its new recognition and to thank its Ecuadorian customers for the trust placed in BIOLAN products over the last few years. The shrimp aquaculture and fishing industry in Ecuador has a great economic weight in the country and in recent years the country has experienced a considerable increase in investment in research and technology development, in search of a more sustainable production.
BIOLAN, a world leader in the application of biosensorics for food control and food safety.
BIOLAN is a Basque biotechnology company that develops, manufactures and markets its own unique products for diagnostics in the food and health sector, with a high technological and innovative value. In addition to its headquarters in Zamudio, in the Bizkaia Technology Park, it has a very important international expansion, thanks to its 9 sales offices around the world: Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Morocco, France and Spain. This has allowed it to introduce its products in more than 60 countries and achieve an export rate of more than 80%. All this is possible because it has a team of more than 100 highly qualified people, which allows the company to maintain a very high degree of innovation to obtain new products that respond to the needs in the field of diagnostics in the food industry.
