APA News

  • Worcestershire Public Analyst Laboratory to Close


    Worcestershire County Council has taken the decision to close its scientific services laboratory later this year.

    The closure is as a result of increasing budget pressures and the continued decline in sample numbers, and specifically the ceasing of support from the Food Standards Agency. The laboratory has been operating in Worcestershire since 1877, with the first public analyst being Dr Horace Swete MD. DPH., who, coincidentally noted in his first annual report ‘it is necessary to comment upon the very small number of samples collected and submitted for analysis’.

    In recent times, the laboratory had developed expertise in DNA techniques, with meat samples being stacked from floor to ceiling during the 2013 horsemeat incident. The laboratory was also a member of ENGL and the only UK laboratory accredited for screening Chinese rice for the presence of genetically modified organisms.

    The laboratory will close on the 31st December 2019.