BioAnalyt
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BioAnalyt (BioAnalyt GmbH) is a company based in Teltow, Germany. The company focuses on developing, manufacturing, and marketing portable rapid test kits called iCheck. These kits measure the concentration of vitamin A, Vitamin E, total carotenoids, iron, or iodine in food and animal biological fluids. The test kits are easy to use, provide quantitative results within several minutes. Displaying an innovative alternative to the established laboratory methods. In addition to products, BioAnalyt provides a broad spectrum of services connected with control of food quality or food fortification; which includes analyses of large-scale coverage studies in developing countries.
History
[edit]BioAnalyt was founded in 1999 by Professor Dr. Florian J. Schweigert, head of the Department of Nutrition at the University of Potsdam and an internationally recognised scientist with more than 200 scientific publications. During a study in Laos, it quickly became apparent that the true challenge did not lie in the analysis, but in getting the samples from Laos to Potsdam, Germany. The need for shortening the distance between sample and analysis sparked the idea of bringing the lab to the sample. Thus began the development of the first portable lab in 2006.
Prof. Schweigert is the patent holder of the test kit technology, the roots of which go back to several decades of research work in the field of fat-soluble vitamins and nutritional biomarkers. BioAnalyt has developed a patented test kit, consisting of a portable measuring instrument and specially designed reagent vials, which enable a valid proof of the nutritional content in food and nutrient supply of people within a few minutes. Once started as a team of two, BioAnalyt currently has over 20 employees. It successfully sells its products to more than 90 countries.
Business focus
[edit]- Quality Control: iCheck supports onsite testing at the production line to verify nutritional and quality parameters are compliant with standards.
- Compliance Monitoring: With iCheck food control authorities save costs and time on screening products for compliance to fortification standards and can perform checks at border crossing points, at production and at the market for more timely decisions and ensure level paling field for the producers and suppliers of fortified foods.
- Animal Health: iChecks enable direct, on-farm measurement of nutrient levels in blood and tissue samples in minutes, so that animal feeds and supplementation schedules can be optimised for improved animal health and other desired outcomes.
- Program Impact Evaluation: To monitor a nutrition program implies making sure that the micronutrients actually reach an individual’s plate and in the right amount. To ensure that this is the case, you must measure the nutrients at each and every point of the value chain. iCheck enables you to do just that
Public Private Partnerships
[edit]BioAnalyt partners with multiple NGOs such as the Gates Foundation, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Helen Keller International (HKI), GIZ, Iodine Global Network (IGN), and leading vitamin producers such as BASF and DSM to improve access to nutritious foods in areas with high rates of malnutrition by providing efficient tools for program monitoring and quality control.
Patents
[edit]BioAnalyt's founder and managing director, Prof. Dr. Florian J. Schweigert is a holder of 3 national and international patents for the technology the company's products are based.:[1] Determination of biological material ingredients Patent number: 8501430 METHOD FOR THE EXTRACTION AND DETECTION OF FAT-SOLUBLE COMPONENTS FROM BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS Application number: 20120156794 Determination of biological material ingredients Application number: 20110256566
Products
[edit]BioAnalyt's product focus is portable analytical solutions for fat-soluble vitamins as well as microelements, including iron, iodine, Vitamin A and Vitamin E:
- iCheck Fluoro - portable fluorometer for vitamin A analysis in milk,[2] food, premix, and biological liquids, like breast milk.[3]
- iCheck Chroma 3 - portable photometer to measure vitamin A quantitatively in edible oils and plant fats.
- iCheck Carotene - portable photometer for total carotenoid analysis in beverages, food, vitamin premixes and biological liquids. Among others, it can be used for the measurement of total carotenoids in cassava to select pro-vitamin A rich varieties.
- iCheck Iodine - portable photometer for iodine analysis in salt.[2]
- iCheck Iron - portable photometer to measure added and intrinsic iron in foods and premixes.
- iCheck Vitamin E - portable photometer to measure vitamin E as alpha tocopherol concentration in cattle whole blood and serum..
Awards
[edit]In recent years, BioAnalyt has received the following prizes:
2017- Nutra Ingredients Award 2017
2017: Award for Excellence in Nutritional Measuring Equipment 2017
2015 - Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award (Germany)
2015 - BITC Unilever Global Development Award, Finalist (Globally)
2014 - Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Award (Germany)
2014 - Top 100 Award, Category Innovation (Germany)
2014 - Innovationspreis Brandenburg – prize winner in the category “food industry” (Germany)
2008 - Innov’Space (France)
2007 - Techologietransferpreis Berlin-Brandenburg (Germany)
Further reading
[edit]In January 2015, BioAnalyt was featured in the innovative German business magazine Brand eins with an article on the topic of "self-determination".[4] BioAnalyt products were also mentioned in following publications:
- Comparative Validation of Five Quantitative Rapid Test Kits for the Analysis of Salt Iodine Content: Laboratory Performance, User- and Field-Friendliness. Authors: Rohner F, Kangambèga M, Khan N. PLoS One, 2015[5]
- Assessment of a portable device to quantify vitamin A in fortified foods (flour, sugar, and milk) for quality control. Authors: Laillou A, Renaud C, Berger J, Moench-Pfanner R, Fontan L, Avallone S. - Food Nutr Bull. 2014 Dec;35(4):449-57.[2]
- Comparison of breast milk vitamin A concentration measured in fresh milk by a rapid field assay (the iCheck FLUORO) with standard measurement of stored milk by HPLC. Authors: R Engle-Stone, MJ Haskell, MR La Frano, AO Ndjebayi, M Nankap and KH Brown. - European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2014), 1–3[3]
- Validation of a user-friendly and rapid method for quantifying iodine content of salt. Authors: F. Rohner, G. S. Garrett, A. Laillou, S. K. Frey, R. Mothes, F. J. Schweigert, and L. Locatelli-Rossi. - Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 33, no. 4 (supplement) © 2012, The United Nations University Press[6]
- Retinol Assessment Among Women and Children in Sahelian Mobile Pastoralists. Authors: M. Bechir, E. Schelling, K. Kraemer, F. Schweigert, B. Bonfoh, L. Crump, M. Tanner, and J. Zinsstag - EcoHealth 9, 113–121, 2012
- Quantification of Vitamin A in Palm Oil Using a Fast and Simple Portable Device: Method Validation and Comparison to High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph. Authors: F. Rohner, S. K. Frey, R. Mothes, A.Hurtienne, S. Hartong, P. Emery Bosso, M. Bui, Florian J. Schweigert, and C. Northrop-Clewes. - Int. J. Vitam. Nutr. Res. 81 (5) © 2011 Hans Huber Publishers, Hogrefe AG, Bern
- A New Test Kit's Potential for the Rapid Analysis of Vitamin A in Human and Cow Milk. Authors: O. Dary, P. Juarez, S. K. Frey, R. Mothers, F. J. Schweigert. - Sight and Life Magazine 25(3) 2011.
- Determination of β-carotene in whole blood of cattle: Comparison of a new cow-side assay with HPLC. Authors: J. Raila, F. Enjalbert, R. Mothes, A. Hurtienne, F. J Schweigert. - Veterinary Clinical Pathology 2011
References
[edit]- ^ Schweigert, Florian. "Patens by Inventor Florian Schweigert".
- ^ a b c Laillou, A; Renaud, C; Berger, J; Moench-Pfanner, R; Fontan, L; Avallone, S. "Assessment of a portable device to quantify vitamin A in fortified foods".
- ^ a b Engle-Stone, R; Haskell, M J; Frano, M R La; Ndjebayi, A O; Nankap, M; Brown, K H (2014). "Comparison of breast milk vitamin A concentration measured in fresh milk by a rapid field assay (the iCheck FLUORO) with standard measurement of stored milk by HPLC". European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 68 (8): 938–940. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.63. PMID 24736678.
- ^ Schulze, Nicole. "Labor aus dem Koffer". Brandeins.de. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
- ^ Rohner, Fabian; Kangambèga, Marcelline O.; Khan, Noor; Kargougou, Robert; Garnier, Denis; Sanou, Ibrahima; Ouaro, Bertine D.; Petry, Nicolai; Wirth, James P. (2015-09-24). "Comparative Validation of Five Quantitative Rapid Test Kits for the Analysis of Salt Iodine Content: Laboratory Performance, User- and Field-Friendliness". PLOS ONE. 10 (9): e0138530. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1038530R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138530. PMC 4581857. PMID 26401655.
- ^ Rohner, Fabian; Garrett, Greg S.; Laillou, Arnaud; Frey, Simone K.; Mothes, Ralf; Schweigert, Florian J.; Locatelli-Rossi, Lorenzo (2012-12-01). "Validation of a user-friendly and rapid method for quantifying iodine content of salt". Food and Nutrition Bulletin. 33 (4 Suppl): S330–335. doi:10.1177/15648265120334S309. ISSN 0379-5721. PMID 23444714.