IEN offers to its clients bespoke analytical services to GLP standards, including:
- Prohibited substances testing in feed
- Hair analysis for pharmaceuticals, prohibited substances & pesticides
- QC/QA analysis of nutraceutical actives, e.g. harpagosides, GABA
- Major- & micro-nutrients
- Mycotoxins
- Pre/post-purchase testing of horses as part of the 5-stage vetting process
Introduction to Prohibited Substance testing
IEN provides an analytical service to screen for the presence of common contaminants (naturally occurring prohibited substances in equine feedstuffs. This addresses those contaminating substances potentially present in feed materials that would be regarded as prohibited substances by the regulatory authorities for racing and other equine sports.
This service is intended to assist equine feed manufacturers with due diligence in relation to the production of feeds and complementary feeds for the racing and performance horses markets.
- Technique: LC-MS/MS (liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry).
- Reporting period: Typically 3-5 working days from receipt of sample.
- Contaminants covered: Theobromine, caffeine, theophylline, morphine, atropine, hyoscine (scopolamine) & hordenine.
- Confidentiality & security: All material, information & analytical data are treated in the strictest confidence. Samples submitted for testing will be held securely for 3 months subsequent to results being reported. Longer term storage can be arranged by request.
Analytical services
Sample(s) of finished products or raw materials can be submitted for analysis within any of the following services:
- Feed contaminants screen (FCS): the presence of theobromine, caffeine, theophylline, morphine, atropine, hyoscine and hordenine using a documented IEN standard operating procedure (IEN-SOP-004.1).
- Methylxanthine screen (MXS): the presence of theobromine, caffeine and theophylline only, using a documented IEN standard operating procedure (IEN-SOP-005.1)
- Bespoke screens: can be established to satisfy the specific needs of individual clients. This can accommodate any number of contaminants but generally would contain caffeine and theobromine plus one other as a minimum. Other potential contaminants not listed in the full screen can be added upon request.
Other less common contaminants can be added to the full screen upon request. Examples might include: lupanine, bufotenine, methylbufotenine, methyltryptamine, DMAA, synephrine, ractopamine, reserpine and zilpaterol.
Samples should be submitted to us via our laboratory portal together with a completed analysis request form. Ideally, a completed electronic version of the request from should also be sent to us via email at the point of sample despatch.
Pricing schedule: We offer a discounted pricing structure that is dependent upon annual samples submission rates.
Pricing for bespoke screens will be dependent on a client’s specific testing requirements. Euro payments can be accepted from clients within the European Union.
Confirmatory analysis
Such analysis can be undertaken at the specific request of the client. This will involve the application of a second LC-MS/MS procedure specific for the unequivocal identification of the suspected contaminant. The price for this service is available on application.
Semi-quantitative / quantitative analysis
Analysis to determine the exact level of contamination in a sample can be undertaken at the request of the client. The price for this service is available on application.
Confidentiality
Potential commercial and private clients are assured of a fully confidential service. All work is carried out under a confidentiality agreement within our standard terms and conditions.
Other analytical services
Details relating to other testing services are available on request.