No country is ever too far, and no analysis is too difficult. During his time at Kemin Industries, Mathieux visited Kenya. He was responsible for the inspection of food products and food distribution at refugee centers, medical aid stations and schools. He also visited remote rural areas, supporting the local population with complementary feeding. His work as a Food Technologist at Kemin Industries also included coordination with the UN World Food Program as part of a financial and scientific sponsorship. This program focused on food safety and quality.

The UN World Food Program provides food aid to victims of conflict and natural disasters. But what is the shelf life of various foods in specific countries or climates? These products will often be placed in storage for several months once they arrive. Mathieux focused primarily on the chemical and microbiological analysis of raw material and finished product shelf lives. He would then be able to formulate a recommendation to extend product shelf life based on analysis results, the raw materials used and the applicable legislation or Codex Standard.

The power of shelf life analysis

In addition to his work for the World Food Program, Mathieux also supported the quality department at Kemin Food Technologies during the interpretation of microbiological and chemical analysis results for raw materials and finished products. Mathieux explains: "With proper chemical analyses, we can examine raw materials and finished products to prevent contaminants or residues in finished products from exceeding regulatory limits. This allows us to ensure final product quality."

Mathieux has extensive knowledge of food chemistry and regulations. In addition to chemical analyses for PFAS, MOSH-MOAH and pesticides, he has a wealth of knowledge regarding food labeling regulations. It is important to prepare a balanced analysis package. This ensures that the correct items are tested. With his wide-ranging experience, Mathieux can help customers with chemical issues even faster.

"It's not just about shelf life, but also about mapping the right nutrients," says Mathieux. "It is useful to know how much protein, carbohydrate and fat your product contains if you want to prepare an ingredient list. Information on the allergens in the product is critical for people who suffer from allergies. We can investigate these items and so much more by means of chemical and enzymatic analyses."

Troubleshooting and problem analysis

Analyze, analyze and analyze again. "It is important to take a highly critical approach to any problem analysis," Mathieux says. "You choose the most useful analyses for a specific situation to gain immediate and relevant insights. This will prevent you from wasting time waiting for specific results that later turn out to be irrelevant. Otherwise, this will delay the final result. Thanks to almost a decade of experience and expertise in food technology, I can suggest targeted analyses and uncover issues much faster."

Lavetan as a one-stop solution

"Microbiological and chemical analysis is common practice before using raw materials in food production," Mathieux tells us. At Lavetan, all microbiological and chemical analyses can be conducted in-house. This offers numerous advantages. He emphasizes: "You are offered the same laboratory structure, just with a specialized team looking examining every result. This allows us to pivot and adjust faster if needed , both in terms of microbiological and chemical analyses. Lavetan is a one-stop solution for all your analyses."