RIKILT - Institute of Food Safety was created in 1975 through the merging of the Government Dairy Station in Leiden and the Government Agricultural Testing Station Maastricht. The Wageningen-based institute was initially part of the Nutrition and Product Quality policy department [beleidsdirectie Voedings- en Kwaliteitsaangelegenheden] of the then Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. The mission of the new institute was to boost the amount of fundamental research being conducted. In addition to milk and dairy products, animal feed and fertilisers, research was also carried out into meat, plant products, etc.
In the 1980s, food safety became an important subject both socially and politically. RIKILT started doing dossier assessments of veterinary drugs in cooperation with the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
RIKILT was eventually made independent and incorporated into Wageningen UR’s Agricultural Research Department (DLO). Having entered the market, the institute won contracts for many projects from the (inter)national industry, product boards and the EU.
Lately, research for the purpose of risk assessment, the setting of standards and the detection of genetically modified organisms in animal feed, raw materials for animal feed, and foodstuffs has been given a great deal of attention. Based on its specific expertise and government work, RIKILT was repeatedly called upon to contribute to the research and control relevant to large and small food safety crises. For instance, the institute’s microscopic research unit checked animal feed for traces of animal meal during the BSE crisis. Similarly, the fact that RIKILT was one of few laboratories with a quick and cost-effective screening method (the CALUX) was a major advantage in the dioxin affair, during which the institute carried out analytical research on many hundreds of samples.
RIKILT has been able to maintain and reinforce its uniquely independent position as a reliable laboratory charged with numerous tasks by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Innovation and the Food and Consumer Products Safety Authority (VWA). In the past few years, research in an international EU context has played an increasingly important role.