Approved for Agriculture
Each service we offer our agricultural customers is conducted in UKAS accredited labs, which are approved by both the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and the Scottish Government. There are only a handful of labs in the whole of the UK accredited to conduct the poultry and egg testing we offer.

To further prove our capability, we participate in the Animal, Plant, and Health Interlaboratory testing scheme, and are happy to share our scores with any of our customers.

Regulators are very specific on what is needed in test reports. We have worked closely with our clients to make our test reports as easy to decipher as possible. Check out our sample report to see if this style suits your purpose. If not, not problem. We can accommodate your request for unique reports.

Six Steps for Salmonella Testing
EC Regulation 2160/2003 sets out the framework for Salmonella testing. It requires poultry and other primary food producers to comply with regular checks for Salmonella. To help our customers meet obligations for poultry and eggs, we offer a simple six-step sampling and reporting process.

Customers should:
1. Request the correct sampling kit from EMS e.g. layers, breeder, or broilers [email] 2. Provide “day old dates” for correct sampling plan
3. Follow the provided instructions on when and how to take swabs
4. Return the samples using the pre-paid / addressed envelopes
5. Receive email update confirming lab has received the samples
6. Receive a PDF test report satisfying auditors requirements

British Lion Code Compliance
In addition to meeting your basic regulatory requirements, EMS egg testing ensures you also meet the additional requirements needed to attain Lion Quality approval. This includes environmental swabbing for total bacteria counts, water testing, and Salmonella testing in eggs. Further information can be found below.

What must farms do to comply?
The Code of Practice for Lion Quality eggs covers breeding flocks and hatcheries, pullet rearing, laying birds (including both hygiene and animal welfare requirements), on-farm handling of eggs, distribution of eggs from farm, feed, hen disposal, packing centre procedures, advice to retailers, consumers, caterers, and environmental policy and enforcement. All areas need to be compliant to achieve certification.

Registration and Traceability
To guarantee traceability, all breeding farms, hatcheries, rearing and laying farms, feed mills, and packing centres involved in the production of Lion Quality eggs, must be approved. Additionally, all hen flocks must be accompanied by a passport certificate and all Lion Quality egg movement must be fully traceable. The British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) maintains a ‘live’ database of all BEIC sites, as well as a register of inter-traded eggs.

Breeding Flock Hygiene Control
We conduct tests that maintain breeding flock hygiene controls and hatchery hygiene controls. This entails swabbing of hen houses for regular microbiological monitoring of breeding flock hygiene and hatchery hygiene, as well as heat or acid treatment of feed, and the slaughter of any flocks which test positive for salmonella-enteritidis or salmonella-typhimurium.

For more information about the Lion Quality Scheme, please visit www.egginfo.co.uk

Take a closer look.
For additional detail regarding all our tests, accreditations, and services, visit our Services page, or simply get in touch.