Ann Arbor-based NSF International, a provider of testing and certification services for the dietary supplement and food industries, has acquired AuthenTechnologies, a California-based provider of DNA-based identification services. Terms of the agreement were not announced.
“The next-generation DNA test methods currently in use by AuthenTechnologies will enable NSF International to continue this work, particularly for industries facing new challenges associated with global food and dietary ingredient supply chains,” says Lori Bestervelt, chief technology officer of NSF International. “As the food supply chain becomes more complex and regulations continue to evolve and become more rigorous, this technology is becoming essential to achieving regulatory compliance and brand protection while preventing issues associated with fraud, mislabeling, and adulteration.”
Bestervelt says the laboratory in California will move forward as NSF AuthenTechnologies. Danica Harbaugh Reynaud, the co-founder of AuthenTechnologies, will become the global director of scientific innovation for NSF International and will continue to lead the California lab.
“We’ve developed a more highly specific DNA methodology capable of identifying a single organism to a complex blend of unlimited ingredients,” Reynaud says. “Joining NSF International will bring our … capabilities in DNA-based testing to customers in the food, dietary supplement, and natural product industries worldwide.”
Reynaud says AuthenTechnologies’ methodology can detect unexpected contaminants, as well as screen for GMOs, allergens, fillers, and filth.
NSF International offers services such as verifying botanical supplemental ingredients, mitigating food safety and food fraud risks, reducing natural personal care product risks, verifying food label claims, and verifying seafood authenticity and speciation.
Founded in 1944, NSF International has 2,150 employees delivering services in more than 120 countries from 40 offices around the world. AuthenTechnologies has four employees.
