The AOAC International Conference caters to chemists and analytical professionals from around the world. This year the meeting is in Dallas, Texas from September 16-24, 2016. Pickering Laboratories will be showing our latest applications and products at our AOAC exhibition booth #308. We are also a corporate sponsor and a contributor to several committee meetings throughout the year. Our commitment to AOAC is reflected in the nay products and methods we offer that follow AOAC methods and guidelines.
This year, Maria Ofitserova will be presenting her work on the analysis of Theanine in tea, dietary ingredients and supplements by HPLC with post-column derivatization. This method was developed in response to a call for methods issued by the Stakeholder Panel on Dietary Supplements (SPDS). The post-column Theanine method has undergone Single Laboratory Validation (SLV) and has met the standard method performance requirements set up by the SPDS. In August 2016, Pickering’s Theanine method was evaluated by an Expert Review Panel (ERP) and approved as an AOAC First Action Official Method! The method and the results of single laboratory validation are in print and will be published in the Journal of AOAC International later this fall. If you are attending the show, don’t miss our related talk on Monday morning September 19th at 8:00am!
Following the trend of more testing for glyphosate, we are presenting a poster on Glyphosate Analysis in Foods. The Pickering post-column method was used to expand our application for Glyphosate Analysis in Soy Beans, Corn and Sunflower Seeds to also include oats, wheat flour, eggs and other food matrices. Improved sample clean-up procedures allow for preparing samples for injection in half the time. See our expanded application in our poster presentation on Tuesday, September 20th.
Glyphosate is one of our classic applications, and as discussed in this quarter’s NACRW article, it has become very popular again due to the recent discovery of glyphosate in finished food products and urine of consumers. Find our previous newsletter article on the subject here: FDA Announces New Glyphosate Testing in Food.
Maria, Mike and David hope to see you at the upcoming AOAC International Conference in Dallas. Please stop by and say hello, or wave to Maria if you see her at her presentation Monday or at one of the expert panels she belongs to!
Pickering Labs would like to congratulate our winners of our last newsletter’s AAA quiz: Wanda Ingersoll from Mississippi Public Health Lab, David Green from Pepperdine University Natural Science Division, Narjes Ghafoori from LA County Environmental Toxicology Lab, and Helene Lachance from Shur-Gain Nutreco!
Consumer use of herbal supplements for wellness has been increasing in recent years, according to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA). Their website is the self-proclaimed voice of the herbal and botanical products industry, and an excellent resource for laboratories interested in providing testing services to this growing market sector. At the Supply Side West show, they held numerous committee meetings (Analytical Laboratories, Personal Care, Sports Nutrition and Cannabis to name a few) where solutions to various industry issues are discussed 
As the scrutiny of Glyphosate grows in the United States, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report has criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for not sufficiently monitoring residues of the chemical on foods. This February, the FDA announced testing of Glyphosate in foods including soybeans, corn, milk, and eggs. Meanwhile, consumer groups, academics and testing laboratories have claimed to have detected Glyphosate in breast milk, honey, cereal, wheat flour, soy sauce, and infant formula as well.
