RovaLab, a guarantee of safety
Quality at Rovagnati is guaranteed by a multi-factor process: ingredients, preparation method, personnel, and workplace: one important example in this last category is RovaLab, the company’s in-house laboratory, certified by Accredia (laboratory accreditation number: 1307L), the Single National Accreditation Body appointed by the Italian government, since 2012. RovaLab’s purpose is to ensure the safety and quality of our products by carrying out essential and in-depth analyses.
But the work that goes on at RovaLab isn’t only about samples, statistics, chemical processes, and meticulous research. The people who work at RovaLab are all experts in every detail of Rovagnati products: from observation to tasting, RovaLab is on the front lines of our company’s mission of excellence
The importance of analysis
Two kinds of analysis are carried out at RovaLab: microbiological and chemical-nutritional. The former check for the presence of pathogenic microorganisms, while the latter ascertain the nutritional values of the product as well as confirming the absence of allergens such as gluten and milk proteins.
The RovaLab analyses take into consideration every component of the Rovagnati production line, from raw materials to semi-finished and finished products.
The numbers speak for themselves
Of the roughly 60,000 analyses carried out by RovaLab every year, 20,000 deal solely with environmental samples to certify the hygiene levels of surfaces and workplace environments. Additionally, Rovagnati has endeavoured over the years to increase the laboratory’s productivity and efficiency: today, 95% of RovaLab’s microbiological analyses are automated, ensuring traceable processes and targeted
Our tools for safety
The work carried out by RovaLab requires scientific instruments including the GENE-UP Real Time PCR, used in microbiological analyses to detect the presence of pathogenic microorganisms, and the NIR spectrophotometer, which allows the lab to run nutritional analyses without using chemicals. But those aren’t the only tools RovaLab uses from day to day: care, dedication to quality, and team spirit are also crucial parts of the toolbox.
Quality Assurance
We comply with all the obligatory regulations and adopt voluntary regulations as well, in particular with the BRC and IFS certifications, and respect the requirements for EU and non-EU export Countries.
The USDA allows the export of food products to the United States and therefore it involves strict controls by both the Italian and American Health Authorities, which is one of the highest international acknowledgements of food safety.
The BRC (Global Standard for Food Safety) is one of the standards for food safety recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) whose main purpose is to reinforce and promote food safety.
The IFS standard aims to favor the efficacious selection of suppliers of the Mass Distribution branded foods, based on their ability to provide safe products, compliant with contractual specifications and legal requirements.
Product quality
A complex control system guarantees the quality and safety of every single Rovagnati product: we constantly check the technical specifications of our raw materials, ingredients, semi-finished products, cured products, and finished products; we draft and monitor quality, as well as data sheets and labels for our finished products in compliance with the regulations; we assist our customers with questionnaires, complaint forms, product data sheets and address all questions submitted to us; we ensure compliance with Good Processing Practices by all operators involved in each process phase, from the arrival of raw materials to the shipment of the finished product.
Before arriving in your hands, our products go through six main Quality Control steps:
1. we check the correct percentage of purified gases fed into the tray;
2. we check the tightness of the package with manual and instrumental opening tests of the tray;
3. we check for the absence of metallic foreign bodies through metal detectors;
4. we ensure that the product respects our quality standards from a visual, olfactory and taste perspective;
5. we constantly monitor the ambient temperature and humidity through special detection software;
6. we carry out targeted analyses to exclude the presence of pathogenic or alterative microorganisms and check the nutritional values of the products and the absence of allergens such as gluten and dairy products.
