Olymel opens central microbiology laboratory

SAINT-HYACINTHE — Olymel says it has set up its own central microbiology laboratory inside its plant in Ange-Gardien, Montérégie.

The company says it automated the Ange-Gardien facility and had its equipment upgraded to PCR technology to boost efficiency and increase the traceability of information. Olymel would also like to note that the laboratory is licenced by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

A team of five professionals will permanently work in this new central microbiology laboratory under the supervision of Delphine Sène, director of food safety at Olymel.

This new laboratory’s analyses will focus on detecting primary pathogens like listeria and salmonella and confirming product shelf life.

“By bringing previously outsourced analyses and tests in-house, Olymel can develop its own expertise, shorten turnaround times, and significantly reduce costs related to laboratory analyses across the company. Now that this sector is in-house, the laboratory will have the capacity to perform over 100,000 tests per year. This will give our company more autonomy to validate processes within the framework of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification obtained by all our plants, and our quality assurance management will be even more effective,” said Sylvain Fournaise, vice president, food safety and technical services, and research and development in a statement.

Olymel will continue to entrust analysis requests and tests to independent laboratories.