| Other defra.gov.uk sites

About Quick Links

About Quick Links

Hover over the links on the right hand side for a brief overview of the subject and click to visit the associated web page.
BeeBase

BeeBase

Information for bee keepers
FC24

FC24

FC24 is comprehensive guide to EU food contaminants legislation and residue limits for food industry professionals
Plant Clinic

Plant Clinic

Global pest and disease identification services for all horticultural and agricultural crops, garden plants and plant-based products.
Liaison

Liaison

Liaison provides agronomists, growers and the fresh produce trade with rapid access to pesticide approvals, label information and pesticide MRLs
Pyrosequencing

Pyrosequencing

DNA sequencing is a vital part of our research into pathogen identification, environmental microbiology and genomics.
UK National Reference
Laboratory

UK National Reference Laboratory

Fera is the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for the UK and for Malta for a variety of functions: Chemicals in Food, Pesticides, Veterinary Drug Residues
GM Inspectorate

GM Inspectorate

The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) provides Defra with GM inspection and enforcement services for the deliberate release of GMOs.
NNSS

NNSS

Fera provides the Secretariat for the GB Non-native programme board. The Secretariat's role includes coordinating research programmes and ensuring the exchange of experience, information and specialist expertise on non-native issues amongst key agencies and sectors.

Decontamination Service

GDS

Government Decontamination Service provides advice, guidance and management support to those with responsibilities for decontamination
FAPAS

FAPAS

FAPAS, FEPAS, Gemma, Leap and Phytopas are proficiency testing schemes run by Fera to enable laboratories worldwide to assess their proficiency in chemical and microbiological analysis
e-Domero

eDomero

eDomero is an online registration system for all plant health inspection services relating to the import and export of plants, plant pests, plant produce and, soil and growing medium in England and Wales.
Seed Certification

Seed Certification

Seed Certification is the online system for making applications for seed certification in England.
Pesticide Usage Statistics

Pesticide Usage Statistics

Searchable data from the pesticide usage surveys commissioned by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides
Food Analysis

Food Analysis

Details of the analytical testing services available for the food and drink industry
CropMonitor

CropMonitor

The CropMonitor website provides information sourced from monitoring sites located across the country and reports up to date measurements of crop pest and disease activity in arable crops throughout England.
Licensing of non-native biocontrol agents

Licensing of non-native biocontrol agents

Background information on the legislation and procedures in place for issuing of licences to release non-native biocontrol agents in England under Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
NCPPB

NCPPB

The National Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria houses virtually all known bacterial plant pathogens of importance to the Agricultural and Horticultural sectors. Strains are supplied freeze dried in glass ampoules and also as live cultures on agar for diagnostic, research, and Industrial applications.

You are here:

Email to a friend

Home

Stable Isotope analysis

The stable isotope team specialises in natural abundance measurements of the bio-elements (HCNOS) to establish the authenticity and origin of foods, and other materials, where provenance and traceability are of importance. The team also collaborates with other Fera programmes to apply stable isotope analysis to study migration, food webs, and animal and timber trade issues.

Examples include:

differentiating the geographical origin of British beef to confirm Protected Geographical Indication and Protected Designation of Origin labels
differentiating the origin of premium long grain rice
Distinguishing between Organic and conventional cultivation of crops
Distinguishing between natural and synthetic flavours, aromas and food additives

The team also conducts analysis and surveys for Government and commercial customers for the purposes of assessing authenticity and origin of foods and other products.

For more information please contact .