Is there any reasonably priced lab service in the UK that will identify a substance you send to them?

Question

I found a horrible big white splodgey thing when I opened a can of soup and I don't trust the company that made it to do anything other than refund the money to shut me up and keep the evidence of whatever the h**l it is... I'm just glad I didn't eat any of it.

Answer 1

No.  When you submit a sample to a lab you must request specific tests.  Each test will have a set price.  

We have people come to our lab all the time asking to submit a sample and asking "what is it?"

We can run several tests ranging from $20 to $250 each and still not identify it completely.  

We can say it contains arsenic or lead or benzene or whatever.  But you can almost never say exactly what it is.  You could test the sample for asbestos or test the pH.  We could run a whole slew of tests which would cost a thousand dollars and still have no definite answer.

Typically you would submit a sample to a lab and say "Does it contain E Coli?"  And get a definitive answer and know the exact cost.  But to ask "what is it" requires speculation and probably a lot of separate tests that would be cost prohibitive in this instance.

Sounds like your sample is congealed lipids such as fat.

Answer 2

Try your local environmental health department.  They will get it examined at their expense and prosecute the company if it is something it shouldn't be.

Probably a lump of preservative or starch that didn't get mixed in properly

Answer 3

ahhaah