The Analytical Section (ANA), Food and Drug Quality Unit (FDQ), Office of Research, Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI) has been established since 2015 to perform metal and chemical analyses in foods, herbal products, and environmental samples. ANA is operated and managed by qualified and experienced researchers and chemists using the modern instruments and advanced techniques. Firstly, ANA has supported the research work from CRI’s laboratories for monitoring contamination of some toxic metals, such as arsenic (total As and As species), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) in rice, seafood, and water samples collected from different provinces in Thailand. Later, it has been accepted as an accredited laboratory complying with the ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 and the requirements of the Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand in October 2018 (Accreditation Number 1299/62). After that, ANA has been recently accepted as an accredited laboratory complying with the ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 in October 2022. The laboratory has been accredited for specific tests (total As, Mn, Cu, Cd, Zn, and As speciation) in the field of ‘Food Testing’.

            Certainly, ANA provides high standard analytical services of foods for exporters, entrepreneurs, agribusinesses, SMEs, OTOP and community enterprises including researchers from universities, government agencies, and consumers. At present, ANA has expanded testing services to the analysis of phytochemical compounds in herbal products (Andrographis paniculata or Fah Talai Chon) to support the quality of this product for use in COVID-19 treatment. Recently, ANA received a recognition award for “Outstanding laboratory for testing agricultural products and foods, year 2022” from National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards (ACFS) on October 7, 2022.