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Food quality testing evaluates product characteristics that affect stability, consistency, shelf life, and consumer acceptance.
Quality testing differs from food safety testing by focusing on the consistency, texture, chemical parameters, and sensory attributes of food. It ensures that every batch produced meets the established brand standards and performs as expected during its lifecycle.
PBR Laboratories provides certified quality testing services for food processors, ingredient suppliers, dairy processors, and pet food manufacturers throughout Alberta, Western Canada, and Canada.
Food quality testing evaluates physical, chemical, and sensory characteristics that affect how food products look, taste, feel, and behave over time.
Core quality parameters include:
By testing these parameters, food developers and manufacturers can ensure that products remain stable and acceptable throughout their storage life. When deviations occur, manufacturers use Root Cause Analysis for Food Quality Issues to resolve them.
Food quality testing is essential for a broad range of sectors, including:
Water activity measures the availability of water that can support microbial growth, chemical degradation, or physical structure changes.
Importance: Controls spoilage potential, predicts shelf life, and ensures compliance with safe moisture-activity thresholds.
pH measures the relative acidity or alkalinity of food items. Keeping pH within optimal ranges is key to product consistency and preservation.
Importance: Prevents bacterial growth, supports shelf stability in acidified foods, and ensures consistency in flavor profiles.
Moisture content measures the total amount of water present in a food item, usually expressed as a percentage.
Importance: Affects product texture (e.g. crunchiness or softness), density, economic yield, and regulatory compliance parameters.
Sensory testing assesses product attributes using human senses, including appearance, color, smell, texture, and taste.
Importance: Evaluates consumer acceptability, verifies that product reformulations maintain brand-typical profiles, and identifies early signs of spoilage.
Free Fatty Acids, Peroxide Value and Insoluble Impurities testing can help manufacturers and suppliers assess applicable fats, oils and food ingredients against defined quality specifications. Select the tests according to the product, processing history and decision the results need to support.
Free Fatty Acids testing measures fatty acids that are not bound within triglycerides. Results may support ingredient acceptance, supplier comparison and investigation of changes in fat or oil quality. Confirm the reporting basis required by your specification; FFA percentage and acid value use different units and reporting conventions.
Peroxide Value measures primary oxidation products in fats and oils. It may help assess a raw material or monitor a suitable quality parameter during storage. Interpret the result alongside product history and other relevant evidence. Peroxide Value alone does not describe every stage of oxidation or establish a product’s shelf life.
Insoluble Impurities testing measures material that remains insoluble under the specified analytical procedure. Results may help evaluate a fat or oil against a purchasing specification or investigate separation, filtration or lot consistency. This is not a general screen for all chemical contaminants or foreign materials.
Potential users include edible oil and fat processors, ingredient suppliers, distributors, importers and food manufacturers using fats or oils. Applicable materials may include animal fats, vegetable oils and blends, subject to confirmation of the specific matrix and method.
Contact PBR with the product name, requested tests and specification to confirm suitability and sample requirements.
Food quality testing evaluates product characteristics that affect stability, consistency, shelf life, and consumer acceptance.
Food safety testing focuses on contamination risks while food quality testing evaluates product performance and consistency.
Water activity influences microbial growth, spoilage risk, and shelf life.
Moisture measures total water content, while water activity measures available water capable of supporting microbial growth.
pH affects microbial growth, stability, product quality, and shelf life.
Organoleptic evaluation assesses appearance, taste, odour, texture, and overall sensory performance.
Quality testing may be performed during product development, routine production, shelf life studies, investigations, and reformulation projects.
Food products, ingredients, dairy products, bakery products, beverages, ready-to-eat foods, and pet food.
Depending on the product and specification, relevant measurements may include Free Fatty Acids, Peroxide Value and Insoluble Impurities. These parameters answer different questions, so select them according to the material and quality decision involved.
Nutritional analysis measures components such as total fat or fatty acid composition. FFA, Peroxide Value and Insoluble Impurities address other quality characteristics. Select the service according to whether you need nutritional composition or a defined quality measurement.
No. A standalone oil or fat, an ingredient blend and a finished food can require different analytical preparation and methods. Provide the product description and specification so PBR can confirm suitable testing before sample submission.
PBR Laboratories provides food quality evaluations, moisture testing, water activity testing, pH measurement, and fats and oils quality testing (FFA, peroxide value, insoluble impurities) to support product consistency and shelf-life requirements.