Andrzej Benkowski
Technical Manager, Probiotics & Dietary Supplements
As the Technical Manager at Eurofins Center of Excellence for Probiotics, Andrzej Benkowski brings over 18 years of expertise in biotics quality management, testing, and technology. With a strong technical background in food microbiology, Andrzej specializes in contract R&D, method development, and pioneering technologies for probiotic evaluation.
Since 2019, Andrzej has chaired the International Probiotic Association (IPA) Technical Committee and has been a member of the IPA Board of Directors since early 2024. He also contributes to the IPA Postbiotics Committee and has served as the IPA expert liaison with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) TC34/SC9 Working Group 11 since 2022, co-convening their Enumeration Subgroup.
Andrzej is dedicated to advancing the biotics industry by setting rigorous standards and driving innovation with a focus on quality.
Outside of his professional and scientific achievements, Andrzej is a member of the Eurofins Madison Site Employee Engagement Team and manages the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program for the site. A founding member of the funk band Steez, he also plays saxophone, synthesizers, and vocals. Andrzej enjoys the outdoors, spending time with his family, and pretending to be a coffee aficionado. Additionally, he has a passion for collecting sneakers and fitted hats.
Below are resources from Andrzej:
Understand what an acidified food is, the regulations associated with acidified foods, and different sterilization techniques (thermal processing and cold-fill-hold) for various food products. This guide will help you to determine the classification of a food, and provide resources to aid in processing, FDA filing, and where to go to with further questions.
The effectiveness of a preservative or antimicrobial product is critical in ensuring the safety of a food product and extending its shelf life. This article helps you to understand the basic considerations of preservative and antimicrobial efficacy testing, including determining a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), giving you the background needed to select the best test methods for your food product evaluation.
This poster evaluates the microbiological safety of immersion method concentrated coffee, and single strength cold brew coffee processed by UHT. The results were used to determine if temperature controls for safety (TCS) should be required for these products during retail.
Watch this on-demand webinar featuring industry experts, as they explore the analytical considerations for non-routine investigations of failures and losses in the wine, spirits, and beverage industry. Original airdate May 22, 2024.
Do you need microbial testing for your food products? Learn the importance of microbial challenge testing to ensure food safety and quality.
In this on-demand webinar, you will learn how to assess your microbiological food safety hazards related to these holding steps and determine if pathogen growth and/or toxin production may occur. We will discuss several case studies as well as different strategies you may employ to address these identified risks. Original airdate October 11, 2023.
Following the recent webinar titled "Validation of Thermal Processes Applied to Low-Water Activity Foods" experts Shirin Abd and Dr. Wilfredo Ocasio answered some frequently asked questions.
Pathogenic organisms, like Salmonella and E. coli, can grow in low water activity foods, leading to foodborne illness outbreaks. Thermal processes inhibit microbial growth and ensure only safe ingredients and products reach the shelves. Thermal processes must be validated to make sure they fully prevent pathogen growth. This blog outlines what foods may need an LWAF thermal process, what a validation study looks like, and the results the experts at Eurofins provide.
This webinar outlines the concept, design and execution of appropriate validation strategies and procedures intended to mitigate microbiological hazards in Low-Water Activity Foods. In the context of FDA regulations, low-water activity foods (LWAF) are those products with a water activity (aw) of less than 0.85. For many decades, these products were believed to present a low microbiological hazard risk. Various food related illness outbreaks, starting with a massive outbreak of salmonellosis due to peanut butter consumption in 2008-2009, raised awareness of the risk resulting from extended survival of pathogens in these products even in the absence of active growth. Original airdate August 23, 2022.
High-Pressure Processing is a food processing technology that enables food safety while maintaining food quality. Learn how this high-pressure technology contributes to food science and testing to help support HPP processing and HPP food safety.
