Globally recognised provider of proficiency tests, running over 400 tests annually across an extensive range of matrices and analytes
A single sample taken by an ecologist at any time during the newt breeding season can determine their presence or absence, saving you time and money
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years of science
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active partnerships
samples per year
Come visit Fera at the SOFHT – Control or Management; The Changing Environment for Pests conference on 28th February in Bristol. Fera’s Senior Invertebrate Biologist will be discussing the monitoring of mites in premises and in produce.
Fera has the scientific and regulatory expertise to provide consultancy services to help you with every step of the regulatory framework process. Our experience derives from working in government, industry, contract research organisations and in regulatory consultancies. We have well-established working relationships with many competent authorities, which means we can support you to achieve product registrations effectively and efficiently.
Preparing a detailed and thorough dossier of evidence and data is essential for a hassle-free product approval. We can help to ensure that you provide all the necessary evidence, compliance data and risk assessments to satisfy the requirements of the regulatory authority – whether for BPR or REACH registration.
The Edge of Field Waterbody Safety Assessment Facility (E-Flows) is designed to be a state of the art mesocosm providing a realistic test bed for regulatory risk assessments.
If you are a company developing veterinary products or plant protection products (PPPs), it’s essential that you fully assess the risks posed by your products to the wider environment and natural ecosystems.
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By understanding how chemical products are transformed, distributed and taken up by organisms in the natural environment, we can provide the data required for environmental risk assessments – ensuring you meet all regulatory requirements in the development of safe plant-protection and veterinary products.
Carmel’s work for commercial customers commonly includes bespoke experimental studies (including GLP-compliant studies) to generate data for dossier submission where specific (e.g. OECD) guidelines are currently unavailable.
With a large range of testing abilities, our multi-disciplinary approach gives an overall view of any food issue you may be facing, providing you with the complete information you need to make the strong decisions needed to address these issues.
You can now order your routine Food Tests online, making it simpler for you to work with us and meet your future food testing challenges.
Food recalls can cost millions of pounds and can devastate a company's reputation. Consumers, retailers and regulators are now demanding transparency and accountability for the entire ingredient supply chain.
Fera is the UK National Reference Laboratory for Materials and Articles in Contact with Food. Food contact materials testing is used worldwide to make sure that food is not contaminated by any of the products it comes into contact with.
Our experts focus on the scientific research relating to intentionally added food components and to those arising from chemical changes during food processing, bioactive chemicals and natural toxicants
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If you need to identify the nature and source of contamination in any food item, OriGen from Fera gives you all the capabilities you need. OriGen uses state-of-the-art Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to identify the source of bacterial contamination in foods, and is backed up with tailored support and advice from our expert scientists.
Edward's skills are in genomic epidemiology of foodborne pathogens of humans, and he has an interest in microbial community analyses, for example in relation to untargeted pathogen detection.
Fera offers a suite of crop health services, resources, testing facilities and expertise to help farmers, growers and the food industry to improve yields, reduce costs and develop sustainable solutions.
You can now order your routine Crop Tests online, making it simpler for you to work with us and meet your future crop testing challenges.
Initial assessment typically includes visual examination of your sample by our plant pathologists to assess the most probable cause and appropriate method of testing. We will report back to you within 5 working days of receiving your sample, giving our initial examination findings and if appropriate, a time-scale for completion of the work.
Pests and diseases present a major challenge to both agriculture and our natural environment, with around one third of the global harvest lost to weeds, pests and diseases every year. Fera provides a host of targeted research and development services to help governments, policymakers, agricultural and horticultural businesses, farmers and growers tackle these threats.
The Fera insect monitoring service helps growers to target insecticide applications more accurately to reduce costs and waste, optimise resources and improve yields.
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The Fera insect monitoring service helps growers to target insecticide applications more accurately to reduce costs and waste, optimise resources and improve yields.
Larissa manages insect monitoring programmes and research projects on insect vectoring of viral and bacterial plant pathogens for several commercial and government customers. The results are used to improve decision-making tools to improve crop quality and yield.
Established in 1990, Fapas is a globally recognised provider of proficiency tests, running over 400 tests annually across an extensive range of matrices and analytes for the food and water, environmental chemistry and microbiology sectors.
Proficiency testing is an essential part of laboratory quality procedure and participation is a mandatory requirement of ISO 17025 accreditation. Fapas proficiency testing provides an independent assessment of your laboratory performance and compares your results to laboratories worldwide.
Surplus test materials from the batch used for the PT may be available for purchase as quality control (QC) samples. These QC samples may be used for troubleshooting poor performance in the PT, training of new staff, method development or generating QC charts.
Reference Materials (RMs) are also available from Fapas for some analyte/matrix combinations. RMs have a much higher degree of characterisation than PT or QC materials with a defined chain of traceability
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The Fapas Genetically Modified proficiency testing scheme gives you essential performance data over time, building into a valuable quality control asset. Fapas Genetically Modified covers the detection and/or enumeration of genetically modified material in food samples, including soya and maize.
Scientific Advisor to Fapas
Mark’s principal role is to provide expert advice on all aspects of Fapas proficiency tests and to investigate difficult datasets and their underlying scientific problems. Mark is also responsible for new product development in proficiency testing and developing bespoke schemes.
Translating research into real-world solutions across the agri-food supply chain
We live in a changing world, one that faces global challenges such as climate change, increasing globalisation and population growth. In turn, these all affect our food security. Learn how we are meeting these challenges within our Science Strategy.
As an organisation our focus is translating research into evidence and science-based products and services. As we move forward, we encourage an approach that is more entrepreneurial, internationally-focused and integrated into cross-cutting, interdisciplinary programmes that are underpinned by our strategic partnerships and driven by the needs of our customers.
The aim of the partnership is to deliver innovation in research across the agri-food supply chain, and provide sustainable solutions to problems facing Fera’s diverse customer base in both the agricultural and food sectors. The Institute for Agri-Food Research and Innovation (IAFRI) is a joint venture between Newcastle University and Fera Science Ltd (Fera).
We are no ordinary people. We are original thinkers and problem solvers. Are you part of our solution?
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Our success is built on our ability to solve problems. Over 100 years of our accumulated original thinking sets us apart from the rest. If you love change, a challenge and the opportunity this brings, Fera could be right for you.
Bacteriology Diagnostic Team Manager
Brian has worked within the Bacteriology team for 17 years delivering diagnosis of disease caused by plant pathogenic bacteria and surveillance of samples for specified bacterial pathogens. Brian works closely with Defra and APHA to assist in the management of quarantine bacterial organisms through scientific knowledge and support.
eDNA is a rapid way to determine the presence or absence of great crested newts on a site. Requiring just a single visit to sample the pond, you can get results reported within just a few days.
Fera’s eDNA testing gets you the information you need much faster than traditional methods so if you need to check if they are on a site quickly, eDNA testing is the obvious choice.
Regular microbiological monitoring of swimming and spa pool waters is recommended to ensure that chemical treatments are being carried out correctly, and potentially harmful bacteria are not reaching levels that may cause problems for bathers. Fapas samples are designed to give a representative challenge for the key tests performed on communal bathing facilities.
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