Today, AFL is proud to announce the successful completion of the first ever 3rd party laboratory PCR based kit to test for Cyclospora in fresh fruits and vegetables as well as in water. Cyclospora is generally transmitted when infected feces contaminate food or water. This is not a mandated test by the US government but has been linked to several outbreaks in the past few years.
Analytical Food Laboratories was approached by a few different companies with the concern of purchasing during peak periods of the spring and summer without ability to test for this parasite. AFL worked with a sister laboratory within the Tentamus Group to create the kit and validated this procedure over the summer. Colleen Villanueva, CEO and President of AFL is delighted: “Come this spring, we are here for you and your Cyclospora concerns.”
AFL is also excited to announce the merge of our Nutritional and Vendor Compliance departments. “We heard the concerns and frustrations of our clientele base regarding changes in laws, shortages in supplies and in general issues the restaurant and manufacturers are having. Due to these concerns, we combined our two departments under our new manager, Elizabeth Pierson who comes with nutritional and restaurant experience to provide the assistance to our clientele with ever changing regulation and supply concerns”, explains Colleen Villanueva.
With this transition an experienced manager will be overseeing the evaluation and creation of nutritional facts for our clients.