Public Analysts are scientists in the British Isles whose principal task is to ensure the safety and correct description of food by testing for compliance with legislation.
The UK-based Association of Public Analysts includes members with similar roles if different titles in other countries.
[1] The first Scottish analyst was Henry Littlejohn in Edinburgh in 1862, who, with a strong medicinal background and brilliant mind, established many of the critical foundations of public analysis.
Inspectors were empowered to follow milk to sources outside their formal jurisdiction in checking for infection with tuberculosis.
[7] Since the separation of the UK and Ireland, the function of the Public Analyst operates under different legislation, but the term and general duties are the same.
This remains the case today - but they all provide an equivalent service, and avoidance of conflicts of interest are ensured by the statutory terms of appointment.
There is a statutory qualification requirement[9] for Public Analysts, known as the Mastership in Chemical Analysis (MChemA), awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Public Analyst Laboratories in Cork, Dublin and Galway provide an analytical service to the Food Safety Authority.
Local authorities have a duty to check the safety of food and to provide adequate protection of the consumer.
To achieve that, they devise sampling plans, seeking to balance their need to monitor food against limited resources and other demands on their budgets.