Testing labs in Hutton Cranswick

Martindale Analytical Services (MAS) is a United Kingdom-based bespoke testing laboratory operating under UKAS accreditation number 22945, granted by the UK's national accreditation body. Founded with a clear focus on quick turnaround times and personalised client attention, MAS offers a targeted but comprehensive suite of analytical and microbiological testing services primarily directed at the pet food industry and adjacent sectors. The laboratory received its UKAS accreditation in 2022, with Managing Director Mark Robinson stating that the accreditation enables the team to "broaden our offering and assist commercial partners in developing their business." Based in England, MAS operates on the principle that every sample matters — combining the rigorous analytical standards of an accredited laboratory with the responsiveness and bespoke service that ingredient suppliers and manufacturers require. At the core of MAS's UKAS-accredited scope is proximate nutritional analysis, covering crude protein, crude oil (fat), moisture, dry matter, and crude ash. These five fundamental parameters underpin pet food labelling and nutritional compliance, and are essential for manufacturers who must substantiate the declared nutritional values on product labels, meet minimum composition thresholds, and demonstrate conformance to FEDIAF (Fédération Européenne de l'Industrie des Aliments pour Animaux Familiers) nutritional guidelines governing European and UK pet food production. Accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 under the UKAS scheme ensures that measurements are traceable, reproducible, and independently audited — providing manufacturers and their retail customers with confident, defensible results for quality control and regulatory purposes. MAS provides analysis for undesirable substances, with particular focus on mycotoxins and glycoalkaloids. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by moulds that colonise grain, cereal, and legume ingredients used extensively in compound pet foods; contamination with these toxins poses genuine safety risks to animals, and EU and UK regulations set maximum permitted levels in feed materials and compound feeds. Glycoalkaloids — naturally occurring toxic compounds found in nightshade-family plants such as potato — have become increasingly relevant to test as grain-free pet food formulations relying on potato as a carbohydrate source have proliferated in the market. Testing for these undesirable substances enables manufacturers and ingredient suppliers to screen incoming raw materials and finished products against safety thresholds, protecting animal health and brand integrity alike. The laboratory's microbiology capability covers analysis of feed and ingredient matrices for Salmonella and Enterobacteriaceae. Salmonella detection is a critical food safety requirement across the entire pet food supply chain: regulations in both the EU and UK require that compound pet foods be free from this pathogen, and contaminated products carry zoonotic risk to pet owners as well as direct health risk to animals. Enterobacteriaceae enumeration serves as a broader hygiene indicator, providing a rapid and informative assessment of process hygiene and contamination risk throughout the production chain. These microbiological services apply to raw ingredients, processed intermediates, and finished products, and are conducted using established protocols appropriate for feed and food matrices. MAS also offers product quality indicator analysis, specifically oxidation testing and speciation. Oxidation analysis assesses lipid rancidity in fat-rich pet food ingredients and finished products, a key parameter for ensuring sensory quality, palatability, and shelf performance — fats and oils commonly incorporated into pet food are especially susceptible to oxidative degradation during storage. Speciation testing allows manufacturers to verify the animal species composition of their products and ingredients, supporting label accuracy, compliance with EU and UK feed labelling regulations, and the detection of potential adulteration. Together, these quality-indicator analyses form an important element of any robust product development and quality control programme. A particularly distinctive offering at MAS is its bespoke shelf-life service, designed and conducted to meet individual manufacturer and labelling requirements rather than applying a generic one-size-fits-all protocol. The laboratory tailors its shelf-life studies to each product's specific format, target shelf life, and packaging system, including mapping sample stability over time by tracking the evolution of key nutritional, microbiological, and sensory parameters, and evaluating packaging durability to confirm that the chosen packaging maintains product integrity throughout the claimed shelf life. Such studies are invaluable for new product launches, formulation changes, packaging transitions, and for substantiating best-before dates in line with applicable pet food and feed labelling rules. All MAS services are available for both raw ingredients and processed finished products, giving the laboratory flexibility across the full pet food supply chain — from incoming raw material qualification through to finished-product release testing and routine quality monitoring programmes. The laboratory explicitly positions its full test portfolio as appropriate for quality control, product development, and compliance with FEDIAF guidelines, making it a natural partner for pet food manufacturers ranging from small artisan producers to larger contract manufacturers supplying multiple brands. MAS additionally offers advisory support to help clients identify the most appropriate analytical methods for their specific product type and regulatory context. With UKAS accreditation providing independent quality assurance and a commitment to fast, bespoke service, Martindale Analytical Services is a credible and accessible testing partner for the UK pet food, animal feed, and food ingredient industries.