Food and drink: Data-driven testing and insight to support quality, compliance and innovation in food and beverage products.
Food quality and authenticity is complex
Ensuring consistent quality, safety and authenticity in food and beverage products is increasingly complex. Variations in raw materials, processing conditions and supply chains can introduce subtle compositional changes that are not captured through basic testing, yet can significantly affect flavour, compliance and consumer trust.
Why advanced testing matters for food and drink?
Single-dimension testing often fails to detect low-level contaminants, flavour inconsistencies or product adulteration. Robust, high-resolution analytical data is essential to fully understand product composition and to support confident decision-making across development, quality assurance and regulatory compliance.
Oxford Indices applies high-resolution analytical methods such as GCxGC-TOF-MS and HPLC to deliver detailed chemical profiles across volatile and non-volatile compounds. This enables reliable insight into flavour, aroma, ingredient authenticity and quality.
Why choose Oxford Indices for food and drink analysis?
Aroma and flavour profiling
Understanding your products’ unique aroma and flavour profile are crucial when it comes to brand enhancement, optimising production processes, resolving any batch discrepancies or issues of taint. Oxford Indices laboratory equipped with two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOF-MS), delivers accurate mapping of volatile and semi-volatile compounds in your product. This permits identification and quantification of the key components contributing to scent and taste, whilst minimising the prospect of important components being 'masked' by large solvent peaks.
Insights for processing and formulation
Product differentiation
Batch comparison and quality assurance
Problem diagnosis – taint and odour.
Authenticity and counterfeit detection
Successful brands present the opportunity for third parties to copy, counterfeit and infringe intellectual property increases exponentially. Counterfeit, substandard or adulterated products can lower the customer experience, damaging brand perception. Having a unique 3D surface chart or ‘fingerprint’ of your products composition enables product comparison and fraud detection, whether form blending, watering down or imitation. For brand protection, Oxford Indices offers a ‘mystery shopper’ sampling service and quality check for both on-trade and off-trade retail applications.
Our advantage: GCxGC-TOF-MS
Enhanced separation: two-dimensional chromatography provides superior separation power, allowing for the resolution of complex mixtures.
High sensitivity and selectivity: time-of-flight mass spectrometry provides excellent sensitivity and the ability to detect and identify trace-level contaminants.
Comprehensive analysis: together, the techniques are capable of analysing a wide range of compounds in a single run, reducing the need for multiple analytical methods.
Identification and quantification: many unknown compounds can be identified, their structure elucidated, and concentrations quantified.
Ready to discuss your food or beverage testing requirements?
Book a short call with our team to discuss testing options and ensuring authenticity for your product.