Products & services

Emergency Response Service (ERS)

We understand that you invest great care and attention into your products. But no matter how strictly you monitor your processes, incidents are always possible. When these occur, you need to react fast to safeguard your customers brand and reputation – and this is where we come in.

Clients have been relying on us for over 30 years. The dioxin crisis of 1999, the acrylamide crisis of 2002 and the melamine crisis of 2008 are just a few examples in which the ERS was present to assist. We provide industry with immediate support for incidents, recalls and sabotage issues and are involved in hundreds of cases per year. During each stage of an unfolding crisis, ERS maintains close contact with your team in order to provide support.

Our extensive expertise and state-of-the-art facilities allow for the quick determination of an incident’s origin, cause and potential consequences. Our product screening methods allow us to rapidly demonstrate the presence or absence of a large number of pre-selected compounds.

Using visual inspection, we’re able to detect packaging damage that may be indicative of contamination. Any foreign particles can be detected and characterized using a variety of microscopic techniques, ranging from stereo light microscopy techniques to more advanced techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, x-ray microanalysis (SEM/XRMA) and micro-FTIR spectroscopy (µFTIR). In addition, we have immediate access to a panel of specialists for sensory analysis. Compounds that are responsible for deviation can be identified through GC-Sniff and GC-MS techniques.

We have direct access to extensive, combined and multidisciplinary expertise and testing facilities. Foreign compounds such as antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, volatile and non-volatile compounds, allergens, medicinal drugs and narcotics can all be detected through rapid broad-spectrum screening techniques. We can also screen for the presence of microbiological contaminants and mycotoxins. Any foreign compounds that are found will be evaluated by our toxicological experts to assess possible health risks. We ensure that adequate information becomes available for you to make effective management decisions.

For our customers, these services are available 24/7, so we can start working for you immediately after your call.

We’re also the perfect partner for consultancy work. Our analytical, microbiological, technological and legal expertise provides an appropriate platform for screening investigations of production facilities, for example. These can be aimed at quality control when it comes to microbiological or chemical hazards.

The ERS will be pleased to further outline its capabilities to you.

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