Food

PANEL TEST LABORATORy

Sensory analysis - thanks to the utilisation of techniques and norm procedures – makes possible to objectively measure and evaluate all the characteristics of foodstuffs perceived by the five senses. Its systematic application, combined with chemical, physical and microbiological analyses that permit the identification the quality of a product.

Sensory analysis may be used in the evaluation of the product itself as well as in the evaluation of the suitability of products for the market.

In particular, it involves the control of:

the characteristics of productive uniformity over time
variability following changes occurring in the raw material, formulations and technologies or variability during the conservation
variability during preservation
variability depending on different conditions of preservation
variability rising from contacts with packaging materials
differences from competing products

Within a food company, therefore, sensory analysis is applied in the following sectors:

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT in the creating of new products, improvement of the formulations, and evolution of the sensory profile over time.
MARKETING with preference tests on groups of consumers.
INSURANCE AND QUALITY CONTROL with tests on raw materials, semi-processed items, on-line controls and finished products.
PACKAGING with analyses of the relationships between sensory profile and packaging features.

The Panel Test laboratory is supervised directly by the Technical Scientific Assistance department, just because of the very nature of the two divisions and their respective responsibilities.

CHELAB has years of experience in the field of sensory analysis. It therefore has available an ad hoc department organised in compliance with the ISO 5497, ISO 6658, and ISO 8589 norms that set the methods for preparing and presenting samples and that indicate the structural characteristics of the places where tests are conducted.

CHELAB avails itself of the continuous presence of a qualified staff and of various panels of judges selected and trained in keeping with ISO norms 6658 and 8586 (1 & 2). Systematic up-dating of the analysis procedures takes place in collaboration with the Department of Sciences and Food and Microbiological Technologies of the University of Florence.

The laboratory's evaluation methods include the following tests:

Difference tests, including the triangular test, pairs, two-three and arrangement tests, performed in accordance with ISO regulations;
Descriptive, qualitative and quantitative tests performed in accordance with ISO regulations;
Market tests based on the evaluation of preferences, involving a larger and more stratified panel capable of representing the real market situation.

The laboratory is completely computerised. It features special selected and continuously updated softwares for the performance of:

	General procastic analysis (GPA)
	Principal component analysis (PCA)
	Analysis of the latent variables (PLS)
	Construction of the product profile
	Multi-dimensional analysis (MDS)