Services

About INSA: The Department of Food and Nutrition (DAN) of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) develops activities in the areas of food safety, toxicology and risk assessment, food composition, food and nutrition, lifestyles and impact on health through research and development, surveillance, reference, provision of differentiated services, training, information and consultancy. Among its responsibilities are the promotion, coordination and carrying out of research and development in food and nutrition, identifying needs and establishing the respective priorities following national and international strategies, namely those established by the Ministry of Health, which reinforce the national programs and internationalization. DAN also acts as a reference laboratory for health in the areas of food safety and nutrition by implementing new methodologies, conducting the laboratory epidemiological study of food-borne illnesses, providing differentiated services, including analytical tests, and organising external laboratory quality assessment programs.

INSA provides complete food and feed characterisation services regarding its nutritional composition and microbiological and chemical contaminants. The services offered evaluate the nutritional value and safety of raw materials or food as consumed and include the development of secure and sustainable packages for fish products.

Services:

Food and Nutrition (FN)

The Station for nutritional characterisation includes highly advanced Mass Spectrometry equipment and liquid chromatography with several detectors (LC-MS/MS-PAD-FLR) available for protein and vitamin characterisation. These types of equipment are used to identify and determine the levels of fat-soluble vitamins, all complex B vitamins, amino acids and antioxidants in food and feed. An ICP-MS and an ICP-OES are also available for elemental determination, allowing for micro, trace and ultra-trace elemental analysis.

Additionally, at the station, the following parameters can be determined: fat, fatty acids, carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, water content, and soluble and insoluble dietary fibres. A digestion model for assessing the bioaccessibility of the different nutrients is also available. Most of the FN station's analytical services are accredited for food analysis by ISO 17025.

Food Safety and Toxicology (FST)

The FST station includes laboratories for chemical and microbiological analysis of food and feed products.

Microbiological laboratories are equipped to identify pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria and fungal species.

Chemical laboratories are equipped with LC-MS/MS, GC-FID, and ICP-MS to analyse mycotoxins, biogenic amines, acrylamide, and inorganic and environmental contaminants such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, and PFAS.

Global migration tests are performed to characterise food-contact materials and food packaging. A dedicated cell culture laboratory for toxicity analysis of compounds in several cell models is available. Most of the FST station's analytical services are accredited for food analysis by ISO 17025.

Support offered

The INSA scientific staff will accompany and support the users and provide scientific and technical expertise, thus helping to accomplish their study objectives and deliver results within the agreed timeline. Users will receive lab space and necessary access to buildings and facilities.

Modality of access

The access modality can be on-site (TA access) or remote access.

TA users will access the facilities and perform the experiments themselves under the guidance of the INSA scientific staff. Access can be, for example, a 5-day visit, which includes setting up experiments, sample pre-treatment, analytical measurements, data processing, and results analysis. However, the duration of the TA and other specific details will be agreed with the users for each request.

In remote access, users can ship their samples to the laboratory for analysis. For each request, the users will agree on specific details, such as the number of samples and shipping date.