LABERCA is a Joint Research Unit labeled by the General Directorate of Education and Research of the Ministry of Agriculture and by INRAE (AlimH department). The unit studies the main classes of chemical residues and contaminants in a global and integrated risk assessment process, from agro-supply to food (chemical safety of food) and beyond by focusing on human health effects (environmental health).
The Unit is a National Reference Laboratory with the Directorate General for Food for different classes of substances (growth promoters, Dioxins, PCBs, PAHs, etc.).
The Unit’s analytical platform consists of around twenty measurement instruments that integrate gas or liquid chromatography and multidimensional or very high resolution mass spectrometry.
LABERCA is involved in the training for and through research of Master students in various specialties, from risk analysis to analytical chemistry, including chemical safety of food. In 2001, LABERCA set up an educational engineering structure (SARAF) to share its know-how as a National Reference Laboratory in commodity control but also to disseminate the knowledge produced within the research on the human chemical exposure.