Food Safety Without Compromise: Our Standards for Every Walnut Shipment

Every shipment of walnut kernels carries a responsibility to our customers and to the people who will eat their products. That responsibility guides how we organise our analyses, review the results and prepare each dispatch. For us, food safety is non-negotiable.

Our approach combines a core testing programme with additional analyses tailored to customer requirements and relevant food safety alerts. We pay close attention to the specification for each shipment, because a dependable supply starts with clearly defined requirements.

We work with an independent laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 by the National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU). NAAU is a signatory to the European co-operation for Accreditation Multilateral Agreement (EA MLA) for laboratory testing. The laboratory's accreditation therefore operates within a European framework of mutual recognition.

Our core analyses cover several complementary aspects of walnut quality and safety:

• Physical and chemical parameters: moisture content, free fatty acids and peroxide value, which help assess the condition of the kernels and their oils.

• Mycotoxins: aflatoxin B1 and the sum of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2.

• Elements and contaminants: including lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury.

• Microbiological parameters: total plate count, yeasts and moulds, alongside checks for organisms including E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes.

• Radiological parameters: caesium-137 and strontium-90.

The laboratory reports identify the samples and the consignment concerned, together with the analytical methods and results. This documentation provides a clear basis for assessing the tested parameters against the applicable requirements and the customer's specification.

Targeted Testing and Packaging Safety

These core analyses are the starting point. We also arrange additional tests at our customers' request and adapt our testing programme in response to relevant alerts from European food safety authorities, including notifications published through the EU's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). Our aim is to keep the controls relevant to the product, its intended use and any newly identified risks.

Our attention extends to food-contact packaging. The packaging we use is also subject to food safety testing for MOSH — mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons — and MOAH — mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons. These analyses address mineral oil contamination risks associated with packaging, including the potential transfer of these substances into food.

Experience has taught us that meticulous work depends on following through on the details: choosing appropriate analyses, checking the documentation and responding to specific requirements. We bring that care to every shipment, with a straightforward commitment: we do not compromise on food safety. office@xtranut.com