Intertek scientists detect, analyse, isolate and identify fragrances, off-odours, off-notes, malodours and taints for a wide range of products. A "taint" is an off-odour (off-note) or an off-flavour caused by microbiological or chemical origin.

• Detailed description of Intertek Odour, Taint and Fragrance Analysis Services

Fragrance and Odour Analysis:

Odours are isolated and analysed for many different products, including packaging materials, consumer goods, and raw materials. Techniques used to detect taints and odours include gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry and olfactory analysis.

Olfactometry (Olfactory) Analysis:
The human nose is very sensitive to the odours, taints and fragrances of certain chemicals, making olefactometry a powerful technique, so sensitive it is often more precise than instruments. There is no instrument (yet) which can say that any particular peak is malodorous. Intertek operates a laboratory in the UK with experienced olfactory scientists. In addition, when dealing with unknown source odours, the fragrance lab can run simultaneous olfactory analysis in combination with GC/MS, providing precise identification of malodours and other fragrances.