Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine laboratories in Ireland congratulated on significant achievement
Laboratories in the Food Chemistry Division selected for elite EU working group
29 Jul 2025
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, and Minister of State, Noel Grealish TD, have congratulated the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s laboratories in Ireland on being selected for an elite EU working group.
The laboratories in the Department’s Food Chemistry Division are one of only four National Reference Laboratories in the EU to join a working group on the use of a scientific technique for the analysis of veterinary medicines. The working group will set out guidance on the use of high-resolution accurate mass (HRAM) mass spectrometry in EU legislation.
The technique aims to ensure that any food which is placed on the market is free from pesticide and veterinary drug residues, allowing consumers to be confident that the food they eat is free from contaminants and is therefore safe to consume.
The Division’s laboratories recently completed a major project in which they established multi-class methods for the analysis of 88 antibacterial substances in muscle, milk, eggs and honey. These multi-class methods allow for the analysis of a number of different classes of antibacterial substances in one analytical method.
The laboratories have now started a project to further expand the scope of this method to cover other veterinary medicines such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), coccidiostats, nitroimidazoles, carbadox, olaquindox and dual use pesticides. This means that every sample can be screened for a much wider range of veterinary medicines (up to 200), once again ensuring that the consumer has confidence that the food they eat is residue-free.
Furthermore, a member of the Division, Ian Kelleher, has been invited to speak at the North American Chemical Residue Workshop 2025 taking place from July 27–30 July in South Carolina.
The event is a global annual meeting of scientists working in trace-level analysis of pesticides, veterinary drug residues, and other chemicals.
Commenting on the achievement, Minister Heydon said, “It is important to recognise excellence in performance in our Department and I want to congratulate the Food Chemistry Division on its recent accomplishment, which places Ireland in a significant position of influence on the global stage. The invitation to join the EU working group is the reflection of five years of hard work and dedication by members of Dr Garvey’s team. Congratulations to all involved and I wish them continued success as they embark on the mission of the EU working group.”