A new Thermo Fisher Scientific facility in Sunnyvale, Calif., is available to assist in addressing food, beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturers' safety and quality concerns.

Product Assurance Services and Solutions (PASS) from Thermo Fisher offers rapid response for companies requiring off-site packaged product evaluation to address possible foreign object contamination concerns, according to the company. Additionally, the PASS facility can inspect products for processing anomalies (such as clumps), as well as broken or missing components (empty pharmaceutical blisters, partially-filled candy trays, etc.). "We are here to help customers get accurate and reliable results so that they are able to make informed decisions affecting the safety of the public," said Darren Eaton, global manager, PASS, Thermo Fisher. "By locating this facility in close proximity to this high production area, we help reduce the turnaround time and expense associated with urgent product contamination inspection issues."

The new Northern California facility is the company's third global PASS location. The other two facilities are located in Barrington, Ill. and Rugby, Warwickshire, England. In 2013, the PASS facilities collectively evaluated more than 8 million packages.