NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The US Food and Drug Administration has bought seven mass spectrometry systems from Applied Biosystems for testing food for pesticides, the company said today.
ABI said it will train FDA staff on-site in how to use the systems, and it will assist in validating the methods that will be used to monitor pesticide residues at seven US labs.
FDA will use the company’s 4000 QTRAP System and its Cliquid Software for food testing, at its field offices located in Jefferson, Ark.; Irvine, Calif.; Lenexa, Kan.; Jamaica, NY; Bothell, Wash.; Atlanta, Ga.; and College Park, Md. The company said that the system integrates a mass spectrometer with quantitative and qualitative analysis capabilities in one platform.
"The government's efforts to increase food safety are directly impacted by the accuracy and reproducibility of the scientific information used to conduct the critical analysis that determines whether food is contaminated and a threat to the health of the general public,” Laura Lauman, president of ABI’s proteomics and small molecule division, said in a statement.