On March 29-30, 2018 Head of Forensic Chemistry Department of LEPL Levan Samkharauli National Forensic Bureau Paata Tushurashvili, deputy head of the above mentioned department Dodo Chorgolashvili and head of Food, Alcohol and Non-alcohol Beverages Examination Unit Maia Gonashvili and forensic expert from the same division Tamar Aptsiauri participated in the International Conference organized by the German Metrology Institute (PTB) in Tbilisi."First Food Analytical Conference in the South Caucasus" was intended for private and government organizations involved in food testing, with the aim of sharing experiences of laboratories from different countries. The following topics were discussed: food falsification, pollutants, waste, mycotoxins, microbiological research, quality Assurance etc.
The Forensic Chemistry Department representatives took part in the conference by oral and poster presentations. The results of the research “Sudan I in Spice Sample Case Report” conducted in the Bureau was presented by the head of the department Paata Tushurashvili. The report discussed spice falsification related issues namely, identification of azo dyes Sudan I in “Imeretian Saffron” samples. It should be noted that this particular dye is not in the permitted list of food additives in Georgia. At the end of the conference, the Bureau representatives were awarded with relevant certificates.