News from Agriyork 400 
December 2024 Holiday Shutdown 
Our office and warehouse will be closed from noon December 24th, which is a Tuesday and opening on January 2nd, which is a Thursday. 
 
Pallet orders received on or before Thursday, December 19th will be processed and it is expected that these pallets will ship on the Friday for delivery on Monday, December 23rd. 
Any pallet order received after Thursday, December 19th cannot be guaranteed to be delivered before January 4th. 
 
Parcel orders are slightly different as the APC parcel network is working on Monday and Tuesday, December 30th and 31st, so any parcel leaving our warehouse on December 23rd, will be delivered on Monday, December 30th. Bear in mind that we would need to process your parcel order on or before Monday, December 23rd. 
 
 
 
Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 Section 40 
 
Section 40 Onus of proving limits of what is practicable 
 
In any proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is practicable or so far as is reasonably practicable, or to use the best practicable means to do something, it shall be for the accused to prove (as the case may be) that it was not practicable or not reasonably practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement, or that there was no better practicable means than was in fact used to satisfy the duty or requirement. 
 
This is known in Health, Safety and Occupational Hygiene sectors as 
“The reverse burden of proof.” 
 
What steps did your organisation take to prevent an accident which has occurred? 
Bearing in mind that the “accident” did happen. 
If you are not testing in YOUR workplace, have you taken practicable steps to prevent that accident? 
 
At Agriyork400 Ltd we have many years of experience in drug and alcohol testing. 
 
What we do: 
 
Evaluate a company’s existing drug and alcohol policy to advise on compliance from several viewpoints. 
Challenge at a tribunal. 
Equalities Act/ Anti-Discrimination Laws 
Data Protection 
 
If your company does not have a policy, we can provide a template which is legally defensible. 
 
 
Testing 
 
We provide donor consent forms, drug screening tests, train the trainer sessions so that your own staff can perform the testing. 
Tests are simple to use, and the results are available within 10 minutes. 
 
We offer urine and oral fluid Point of Collection Tests. 
We recommend oral fluid as it is more hygienic to sample, difficult to adulterate, (= cheat), indicates recent use and therefore potential impairment. 
 
 
A box of 25 tests costs £275. 
These screening tests detect the 8 most commonly abused drugs, both illicit and prescription, and also include an alcohol indicator. 
5 random tests per month gives you a powerful deterrent policy. 
£55 per month. 
 
Will you be telling the HSE investigator that the programme as briefly described above was “not reasonable”? 
Please let us know how we can help. 
 
 
December 2024 Holiday Shutdown 
Our office and warehouse will be closed from noon December 24th, which is a Tuesday and opening on January 2nd, which is a Thursday. 
 
Pallet orders received on or before Thursday, December 19th will be processed and it is expected that these pallets will ship on the Friday for delivery on Monday, December 23rd. 
Any pallet order received after Thursday, December 19th cannot be guaranteed to be delivered before January 4th. 
 
Parcel orders are slightly different as the APC parcel network is working on Monday and Tuesday, December 30th and 31st, so any parcel leaving our warehouse on December 23rd, will be delivered on Monday, December 30th. Bear in mind that we would need to process your parcel order on or before Monday, December 23rd. 
 
Agriyork400 are pleased to announce that their partners  
AccuBioLab have introduced a new oral fluid drug test. 
 
 
Don't get into your car if you have taken drugs. 
 
Watch the video at the foot of the page. 
 
Test yourself before you drive. 
 
Your spatial awareness can be affected. 
 
 
 

A new rapid oral fluid drug test. 

For many people driving is a part of their workday. 
Unfortunately, in the UK there has been a marked increase in illicit drug use. 
 
Cocaine and Cannabis are the two most common drugs, but of course, alcohol is frequently a factor too. 
Freight and parcel rates have increased dramatically in the UK, with additional fuel surcharges 
Despite absorbing most of these additional costs, we have now had to increase our carriage charges. 
 
Effective, June 1st the following charges will apply: 
 
Full pallets to UK locations will be £70 each. 
We are more than 35 years ahead of the curve
 
From July 2024 EU Law, ( and you will already be seeing that UK manufacturers are already following this requirement. ) 
States: 
 
Member States shall ensure that single-use plastic products listed in Part C of the Annex that have caps and lids made of plastic may be placed on the market only if the caps and lids remain attached to the containers during the products’ intended use stage. 
 
Product design requirements 
• Tethered caps and lids for all beverage containers and bottles up to 3 litres, 5 years after the entry into force of the directive (to be applied 5 years after the entry into force of the Directive). 
 
UK manufacturers are following this directive in order to harmonise their production lines. ( and make their products easier to recycle ) 
 
Since 1987, Agriyork400 Ltd have been supplying their plastic vials with attached lids. 
When your sample vial contains important material use a snap seal design from Agriyork400. 
One piece construction = easier to recycle 
No lid on the bench = less chance of environmental contamination. 
 
Buy from Agriyork400 and help save the planet. 
 
 
 
 

 

All our vials have attached lids. 
The vials are aseptic by manufacture, and come with a variety of seals. 
SNAP, LOCK, and CUSTODY.  
Different styles for different applications. 
 
What does "Aseptic by manufacture" mean? 
Our vials are produced from a single slug of polypropylene. 
In a hot injection moulding process, the attached lid and the body of the vial are formed from this slug of plastic. 
The vials leave the mould with the lid attached. 
This prevents microbial ingress. 
 
This advantage is not possible with a detached lid. 
Also, in the lab the detached lid offers the potential for contamination as the lid has to held or laid on a surface. 
 
Please contact us to discuss which vial is best suited to your application. 
We are proud to be a member of the Business Resilience Centre 
Agriyork400 Ltd follow best practices to protect our suppliers and customers from internet fraud and scams. 
Our finance manager J. Jennings told the group: 
 
"Internet fraud, especially invoice scams are becoming more prevalent in today's business world. We employ rigorous checks to ensure all banking transactions are protected for all our clients." 
Sterile or Aseptic? Understanding the Difference 
 
 
Ensuring the quality and safety of dairy and food products is the number one priority of processors, explaining why questions surrounding sterile or aseptic frequently enter into the conversation, especially when discussing equipment cleanliness and sampling or testing techniques. While the words sterile and aseptic are often used interchangeably, they are not, in fact, interchangeable. Understanding the difference is important to ensure favourable outcomes in dairy and food processing, sample collection, and laboratory testing. 
 
What Does Sterile Mean? 
 
In general, sterile applies to equipment and environments. It is the concept of having or using equipment that is totally germ-free. To reach this level of cleanliness, equipment must be cleaned and sanitized using specialized procedures, sterilized using validated techniques in which the ability to kill all living organisms has been tested and verified, supplied in special packaging designed to ensure maintained sterility during storage and shipping, and handled in special ways. 
In medicine, for example, sterile equipment and supplies are vital to prevent contamination and infection during surgery. Similarly, sterile needles are required so patients are not infected from inoculations or during a blood draw. While the circumstances are, of course, different, the concept is the same in dairy and food processing. 
When sampling and testing equipment are introduced to a process and come into contact with food, they should be sterile so there is no danger of introducing harmful bacteria or other microbes. This attention to sterility plays a critical role in upholding the quality, shelf stability, and safety of dairy and other food products and is vital for making sure samples collected from the product are free from exogenous contamination. 
 
What Is Aseptic? 
 
Aseptic is a term that is generally applied to techniques that keep equipment or an environment sterile. Aseptic techniques are designed to prevent the introduction or transfer of microorganisms to an environment. In other words, they keep sterile things sterile. 
 
In a dairy or liquid food processing environment, aseptic sampling technique is critical to control contamination of either the collected samples or the food product being sampled. Aseptic techniques are required for inserting sterile sampling equipment into the production line and for collecting samples through sterile equipment. If aseptic technique is not followed, the positive effect of sterile sampling equipment is lost, collected samples may be inaccurate or become contaminated, test results will be untrustworthy, and harmful organisms may be added to products being sampled. 
 
Aseptic Sampling Is Critical to Testing Accuracy 
 
Dairy and food industries are vulnerable to a multitude of microbial contaminants that can compromise the quality and safety of their products. As such, the importance of proper sampling technique cannot be overemphasized. Aseptic sampling through sterile sampling equipment is critical to ensure food safety, product quality, and informed decision-making. 
 
Agriyork400 Ltd are proud to offer aseptic sampling vials and Qualitru sampling systems. 
 
 
 
We were delighted to participate in the Dairy Industries Expo. 
 
Anne Bigalke of QualiTru participated in the workshop and presented a very interesting talk on sampling concerns and issues with microbial contamination of metal surfaces used in dairy and food plants. 
 
 
We are pleased to announce that Victoria Marland of Dundee University is our winner. 
 
Our judging panel determined that Victoria's considerd comment was a good understanding of the paradox. 
 
Should a driver be convicted if his/her blood contains Benzoylecognine and no other psychoactive drug? 

BZE is the non psychoactive metabolite of Cocaine. 

The question to be asked and answered by Vicoria 
 
Should drivers with no Cocaine in their blood be punished for earlier misuse of drugs? 
 
For more details, see the previous post.