Covance said the facility will offer independent and internationally recognised safety testing of food and product samples from Asian companies looking to export to the US.

The facility is one of a few of late that have been opened in Asia, in order to meeting growing demand for onsite testing in the region.

"As more US-based companies specializing in food and dietary supplements establish or expand their operations in the region, our new nutritional chemistry laboratory will provide our customers with the same quality of scientific services they require in the US," said Joe Herring, chairman and CEO of Covance.

Companies in Asia currently tend to send food and dietary supplement product samples to laboratories in the US for analytical testing.

The new 5,000 square foot facility is set to serve the food and dietary supplement manufacturing market in Asia and represents an extension of Covance's nutritional chemistry laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin.

According to the company, the new lab can pre-qualify ingredients and products before shipment - thereby simplifying the export process and reducing product release times.

Because the immediate region has many infant formula producers, the facility will initially focus on testing infant formula for release, stability, and labelling data.

The company's expansion to Singapore in particular is strategic.

"As demand for our specialized services becomes more global, we continue to recognise Singapore as critical to expanding our footprint in the region," said Herring. "Its favourable economic environment, business infrastructure, and scientific talent-pool were key factors in our decision to open this facility."

As part of the contamination scandals that arose recently surrounding Chinese imports, many companies and organizations have been adding testing facilities in Asia.

For instance, to counteract the potential for this to continue affecting Chinese exporters, NSF International created a new testing service in China to analyze products for the presence of melamine using US Food & Drug Administration analytical methods.

The independent testing laboratory said demand for such services has shot up due to the recent recalls.

Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, Covance offers drug development services in more than 20 countries and has 8,400 employees worldwide.

"We will continue to add high level of scientific-based jobs in Singapore, so we can run highly technical assays, reduce turnaround time, and make it easier for our clients to export their products," said Herring.