PRINCETON, N.J.Covance, Inc., announced plans to expand its nutritional chemistry and food safety services, which will open a new 10,000-square-foot laboratory later this year within its existing facility in Harrogate, England. 

The new lab will complement existing laboratories in Madison, Wis., Battle Creek, Mich., Greenfield, Ind., and Singapore and will help Covance continue to promote food safety and nutritional health on a global scale.

Our new European site for nutritional chemistry and food safety services will enable us to provide the consistency of service and quality testing that our clients have come to expect from Covance, from a location that is closer and more convenient to their European operations," said Brad Riemenapp, vice president and general manager, NCFS. In Harrogate we will conduct cutting-edge research in food contaminants testing and the full spectrum of nutritional chemistry."

The Harrogate location was chosen for its appropriate lab space availability, potential to leverage existing Covance capabilities and its proximity to the airport. The company plans to add 25 new positions during the first year of operation, and more than 100 positions within the first five years of operation. 

Covance will also be undertaking new contaminants-testing research at the Harrogate site, after receiving a grant worth approximately $975,000 from the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Business Growth Programme, made possible through the Government's Regional Growth Fund.

In 2013, Covance's contaminant testing laboratory in Greenfield, Ind., was awarded 17025 accreditation by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The accreditation supports Covance's role in the design of testing programs required for nutrition facts labeling regulations and scientific standards.