Expansion of facilities at Southern Microbiological Services

In January 2019 SMS became part of the worldwide Tentamus network of laboratories, which offers a range of food, biomedical, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and environmental analyses (see https://www.tentamus.com/).

SMS’ microbiological capabilities cover food, beverages, water, environmental and cosmetics testing. SMS Labs has a reputation for providing a personalised and tailored service, working collaboratively with its clients to ensure all technical requirements and due diligence obligations are met. In addition to delivering trusted routine testing, the experienced Microbiology Team are happy to assist customers with troubleshooting, technical queries and interpretation of results. Assistance with on-site microbiological investigations as well as delivered or in-house microbiology training form part of SMS Labs’ additional services offered.

In November 2019, SMS Labs invested in the expansion of the testing facility, doubling its laboratory footprint.

“This enabled us to make improvements to our work process flows, by segregating testing areas by food matrix. We now have individual laboratories dedicated to Juices, Drinks & Waters, Raw Meat, Dairy and Ready to Eat. We are very proud of our facility and are always happy to accommodate visits from our clients. We are now excited to announce that the final phase of this expansion; the construction of two walk in incubators, is being completed this month”, explains Sally Bellekom, Director of SMS Labs. This will be particularly important in facilitating the ability to assist customers with non-routine, additional testing requirements, such as trial work.

The SMS team possesses a wealth of experience from both the food industry and associated technical services. Mrs. Bellekom adds: “This makes us an ideal partner to provide insight and guidance to assist with process optimisation, including sterility troubleshooting and decontamination trials during commissioning.”

If you would like further information on the above or think you might benefit from any of our services, please do get in touch.