Matís Laboratory, which is an independent business unit within the Division of Measurement and Communication, provides internationally accredited measurement services, and every year thousands of samples from official regulators and members of the business community are examined for chemical and microbiological factors. Measurements relate to quality and safety measurements for, among other things, the food, feed, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, as well as measurements related to health and environmental issues.
The laboratory is the reference laboratory of Iceland in the field of microbial measurements in shellfish and measurements of Salmonella in food. It is the Ministry of Employment and Innovation that nominates reference laboratories that work in collaboration with other reference laboratories in the European Economic Area. The statutory role and main responsibilities of the Reference Laboratory are diverse and include the coordination of the activities of nominated public research in each country. This includes advice and guidance on measurement methods, participation in the development and verification of measurement methods and the organization of comparative tests. According to plans, the laboratory will also be designated as a reference laboratory in the field of pathogenic E. coli bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus in 2015.
The laboratory is one of the most advanced in the country and can meet the diverse needs of customers with a wide range of accredited measurement methods in many different areas. The laboratory is also very well connected to many foreign laboratories and can mediate measurements that cannot be done in Iceland on favorable terms and fast delivery.
The division has an extensive database with measurement results that benefit customers in analyzing and processing their data, but also researchers and public regulators, as the database is an important long-term source with many processing options for measurement results and other similar data.
Sú gagnasöfnun sem á sér stað á sviðinu er einkar mikilvæg fyrir lífhagkerfið þar sem reynt er að koma í veg fyrir neyslu manna og dýra á skaðlegum efnum og örverum. Nýjar hugmyndir um fullvinnslu afurða og sustainability fela í sér ákveðna áhættu og áskoranir, þar sem unnið er með ný hráefni sem áður flokkuðust sem úrgangur eða voru alls ekki nýtt. Í því samhengi er margt óljóst og sérstaklega þegar kröfur um sjálfbæra og lífræna framleiðslu er um að ræða þar sem tækifæri til að hreinsa matvælin eða beita rotvörnum eru takmarkaðri. Þá þarfnast nýjar fæðutegundir rannsókna og gagnaupplýsinga þar sem þær geta hugsanlega innihaldið áður óþekkt eiturefni auk þess sem sá möguleiki er fyrir hendi að við blöndun á ólíkum hráefnum verði til óheilnæm vara.
For further information Franklin Georgsson, division manager.