Choksi Labs: Delivering Customized And Rigorous Food Testing Solutions
The food and beverage industry globally has experienced a significant growth over the past few years. According to a recent research report, this market is expected to reach a value of nearly USD 9471.66 billion by 2022. Increasing population, strong economic growth and rising disposable income in many emerging countries are the major factors driving the growth of this market.Due to the shift in the food consumption patterns, manufacturers of food and beverage products are hugely investing in creating differentiated products. The requirements in Food and Beverages sector can be broadly classified into two categories such as processed food and fresh serves. The major challenges faced by the processed food manufacturers is to ensure that the processed food retains its texture, taste, aroma while prolonging the product’s shelf life, and for fresh food serving outlets, it is about the contaminants and adulterants, with shorter lead time mostly on razor’s edge. Moreover, due to hectic lifestyles in developed countries there is a growing demand for various kinds of convenience foods, which ultimately drives the consumption volumes of food processing ingredients in Food and beverage industry.
As consumers today are more conscious about the nutritional value of food items, they are opting for food that is high in nutritional value. As a result, food manufacturers have to reformulate their products. The other factors that affect the consumer choice of food and beverage products is that they prefer clean label products that are natural and organic and free from synthetic ingredients and GMOs. Since the food that we consume should be safe in all aspects, it is highly critical that processed food before consumption should go through rigorous monitoring and testing. This is where food testing laboratories come into the picture. Since testing relies on scientific analysis to identify the food hazards in the food products laboratories play a critical role in the food product life cycle management process.
Perfectly understanding these requirements, Indore based Choksi Labs Ltd. (CLL) partners with its customers; understands their requirements, processes, supply chains and provides customized food testing and monitoring solutions. The company caters both processed food and fresh serves based on category and food base type.
Stringent monitoring and testing
PAN India presence and strong technical team differentiates Choksi Labs from its competitors. With more than 35 years of experience in serving multiple clients from various cities and countries, the company delivers robust solutions. Choksi Labs through its rigorous monitoring and testing process has helped customers in increasing the shelf life of products, track the source of contamination, identify flaws in the manufacturing processes and treatments, and identify duplicate product as well. Protecting consumers from the degrees of the harmfulness of contaminated food has become a daunting task.
Analytical Testing for Water Services
. 71 percent of the earth’s surface has water but only 2.5 percent is fresh water;
. 2.5 percent of fresh water but only 1 percent is easily accessible;
. 1 percent is easily available but 0.007 percent is only drinkable and available to feed and fuel 6.8 billion people as per National Geographic
Water contamination is a matter of serious concern, as high concentration of chemicals present in the raw and drinking water and food processing poses serious health risks. Not all water that we have access to is same, water used in food processing industries, potable water, packaged drinking water and natural mineral water all have different specifications.
Choksi Labs performs over 300 plus tests in water alone to meet the requirements of WHO. Two of Choksi Lab’s branches are equipped with GC mass triple quads, LC mass triple quads and even LCQ- time-of-flight. With the LCQ - time of flight, the laboratory is able to analyze unknown contaminants and separate their molecular isomers at different levels. Therefore, Choksi Labs is not just testing for specified contaminants but can also look for unknown impurities at levels which are unprecedented in routine labs.
Food Analysis
Analysis of food has grown rapidly in the last few years. Food analysts have derived great importance in the analysis of food since it helps in obtaining information regarding the composition, appearance, texture, flavor, shelf life etc. This has further helped in determining the quality and nutrition content of the food produced, detect spoilage which may either be biological or chemical such as browning, rancidity etc. Understanding the importance of food analysis, Choksi Labs conducts food analysis for wide range of food products such as food grains, fruits and vegetables that are fresh/ canned/dehydrated, sea-food, milk and milk products, poultry
products, processed foods and analysis facilities for other agro ancillaries/derivatives.
Furthermore, all the labs of Choksi Laboratories are equipped for analyzing elemental contaminant as well as microbiological contaminant. The company is equipped with a vast updated database of test methods and specifications derived from AOAC (Association of Analytical Communities), USP, BP, CP, EP, IP, IS, EPA, PFA, Food Chemical Codex, AOCS and several in-house methods that serve as a wide spectrum of products and materials.
Food Specification within India is largely governed by FSSAI. It’s a major step to repeal different acts and integrate various agencies; various central acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act - 1954, Fruit Products Order - 1955, Meat Food Products Order - 1973, Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order -1947, Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order-1988; Solvent Extracted Oil, DeOiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order - 1967; Milk and Milk Products Order - 1992. For the Domestic the specifications are stated by FSSAI which makes assessing the product regulatory requirement easier. What remains is to assess how to further enhance the product quality along with ability to enter new markets by ensuring the appropriate product shelf life and using new technology in processing, packaging and shipment.
“For exports, depending on the product we classify its requirement under the purview of APEDA, EIC, Spices board, GAFTA or other regulatory requirement.” says Sunil Choksi, CEO & CMD, Choksi Labs. “Secondly, the specification of the importing country has to be checked. When not specified explicitly, the Codex General Standard has to be followed,” he adds. We need to understand the requirements as demanded by the trade. Last but not the least, labs need to have validated test procedures for determining the contaminants in the list, to make sure that the container not only represents the customer but the country too on International Waters.
Quality of Processes
The end product is only as good as the process itself. The goal of calibration and engineering is to minimize any measurement uncertainty by ensuring the accuracy of test equipment or the plant machinery. Calibration quantifies and controls error uncertainties within measurement processes to an acceptable level. Choksi Lab provides calibration of production and quality control equipment with traceability to national/international standards, which means that the machinery is precise and therefore reducing the probability of end-product defects/rejects and consistency over and over for the different batches.
Contract Laboratory service for Food and Beverage Analysis
Choksi Lab’s Food and Beverage Division offers comprehensive support to industry in Alcohols/ Alcoholic Beverages, Milk and Milk Products, Fresh and Final processed food produce, Spices and Extract, Water and Beverage Industry to name a few.
Choksi Labs also provides services such as agrochemical (pesticide) residues analysis, Antibiotic Residues analysis, banned dyes analysis, health claims verification for dietary supplements, food grade certification for food additives, food grade certification for packaging containers, microbiological analysis, heavy/toxic metal analysis, nutritional evaluation and labeling services and natural and chemical toxin analysis.
With special focus on shelf life and contaminant CLL is capable of providing one shop solution for any industry in Food & Beverage Vertical. Moving forward, the company is planning to gear up its entire set ups for trace level contamination identification, organic and GMO portfolios.
Improving the quality in processes, products and services
Founded in 1982, Choksi began its operations with six membered team in a garage in Indore. The company first started with the test facilities for seeds and oil. Later in 1987, with the addition of construction material testing facility CLL became the first BIS certified lab in Central India. The company went public in 1994 and acquired a lab operating in pharmaceutical. Gradually, Choksi Labs expanded its services, laboratories, capabilities, portfolios and centers and now has 5 laboratories with 300 plus technical experts and combined laboratory space of over 2,00,000 sq. feet.
Today Choksi Labs is widely known as a leading analysis and research group providing complete solutions for improving the quality in Processes, Products and Services.
Furthermore, all the labs of Choksi Laboratories are equipped for analyzing elemental contaminant as well as microbiological contaminant. The company is equipped with a vast updated database of test methods and specifications derived from AOAC (Association of Analytical Communities), USP, BP, CP, EP, IP, IS, EPA, PFA, Food Chemical Codex, AOCS and several in-house methods that serve as a wide spectrum of products and materials.
Food Specification for Domestic and Export Marketers
Choksi labs is widely known as a leading analysis and research group providing complete solutions for improving the quality in processes, products and services
Food Specification within India is largely governed by FSSAI. It’s a major step to repeal different acts and integrate various agencies; various central acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act - 1954, Fruit Products Order - 1955, Meat Food Products Order - 1973, Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order -1947, Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation) Order-1988; Solvent Extracted Oil, DeOiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order - 1967; Milk and Milk Products Order - 1992. For the Domestic the specifications are stated by FSSAI which makes assessing the product regulatory requirement easier. What remains is to assess how to further enhance the product quality along with ability to enter new markets by ensuring the appropriate product shelf life and using new technology in processing, packaging and shipment.
“For exports, depending on the product we classify its requirement under the purview of APEDA, EIC, Spices board, GAFTA or other regulatory requirement.” says Sunil Choksi, CEO & CMD, Choksi Labs. “Secondly, the specification of the importing country has to be checked. When not specified explicitly, the Codex General Standard has to be followed,” he adds. We need to understand the requirements as demanded by the trade. Last but not the least, labs need to have validated test procedures for determining the contaminants in the list, to make sure that the container not only represents the customer but the country too on International Waters.
Quality of Processes
The end product is only as good as the process itself. The goal of calibration and engineering is to minimize any measurement uncertainty by ensuring the accuracy of test equipment or the plant machinery. Calibration quantifies and controls error uncertainties within measurement processes to an acceptable level. Choksi Lab provides calibration of production and quality control equipment with traceability to national/international standards, which means that the machinery is precise and therefore reducing the probability of end-product defects/rejects and consistency over and over for the different batches.
Contract Laboratory service for Food and Beverage Analysis
Choksi Lab’s Food and Beverage Division offers comprehensive support to industry in Alcohols/ Alcoholic Beverages, Milk and Milk Products, Fresh and Final processed food produce, Spices and Extract, Water and Beverage Industry to name a few.
Choksi Labs also provides services such as agrochemical (pesticide) residues analysis, Antibiotic Residues analysis, banned dyes analysis, health claims verification for dietary supplements, food grade certification for food additives, food grade certification for packaging containers, microbiological analysis, heavy/toxic metal analysis, nutritional evaluation and labeling services and natural and chemical toxin analysis.
With special focus on shelf life and contaminant CLL is capable of providing one shop solution for any industry in Food & Beverage Vertical. Moving forward, the company is planning to gear up its entire set ups for trace level contamination identification, organic and GMO portfolios.
Improving the quality in processes, products and services
Founded in 1982, Choksi began its operations with six membered team in a garage in Indore. The company first started with the test facilities for seeds and oil. Later in 1987, with the addition of construction material testing facility CLL became the first BIS certified lab in Central India. The company went public in 1994 and acquired a lab operating in pharmaceutical. Gradually, Choksi Labs expanded its services, laboratories, capabilities, portfolios and centers and now has 5 laboratories with 300 plus technical experts and combined laboratory space of over 2,00,000 sq. feet.
Today Choksi Labs is widely known as a leading analysis and research group providing complete solutions for improving the quality in Processes, Products and Services.
