Self-management food safety plan for the entire chain

The products that are more difficult to handle for experts are those to which phytosanitary products are applied more intensely, mainly horticultural products and berries, as they are harvested continuously.

"Each crop has a number of associated risks. Common to all of them is the presence of pesticide residues, and in this sense we do a multi-residue check for over 350 active ingredients, in addition to also analysing in search of specific ingredients, such as quaternary ammonium compounds, perchlorates, glyphosate, etc.," explains Valero.

Regarding specific risks, Valero points out that in nuts they keep a close look for mycotoxins (especially aflatoxins). Furthermore, in lettuce and other leafy vegetables, as well as cucurbits, there is a special emphasis on heavy metals and nitrates. "That is, depending on the characteristics of the product and their production processes, we focus on certain risks. Also in the analysis of pesticides we have identified which active substances are detected more frequently in each crop and which of them cause more problems due to poor degradation."

"Our work is not limited to the analysis of samples, but we also offer support to our customers in the design of proper self-management plans; we help them interpret the results with the consultation of international regulations, etc. We design solutions that help our customers be more efficient and productive," he adds.

After extensive experience in laboratories across the world, Miguel Valero believes the Spanish sector is an example to follow.

It is true that a few years ago there were problems with residues on peppers in Almeria, although nowadays the issue has pretty much been solved with the use of integrated protection.

"Such crises, unfortunately, occur every so often, and almost every time they are the result of malpractice on the part of one or a number of growers, who ignore very specific guidelines which they know they have to follow," assures Valero.

"I know exactly what is done in countries like Chile, where I lived for several years, Peru, Mexico, the U.S., Germany, etc. and I have to say that in Spain we have very high standards in the field of food safety control systems," he points out. "There is great awareness and highly trained technicians, in addition to first class laboratories."

"We work with many organic certification companies around the world, since analytical control is essential for this kind of certification. Organic farming is certainly growing and its market presence continues to expand. Furthermore, it is already possible to find almost any type of product grown organically. This growth has been driven by the demand from a certain segment of the population, as well as the advances made in integrated control and natural fertilisers. But in any case, we cannot consider the possibility of conventional agriculture ever disappearing."

Working with the entire value chain in twenty countries

AGQ Labs has customers across the entire value chain, from producers and exporters to traders and large packers, supermarkets and certification and food processing companies (frozen, wines, oils, juices, etc.) in twenty countries.

"In seven of them (Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the U.S., Mexico, Chile and Peru) we have laboratories, and in the rest (Egypt, Tunisia, Italy, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras) we have technical sales offices and logistics centres for the reception and preparation of samples. These centres allow us to quickly send samples to the nearest laboratory and thus be able to offer a quick response."