Official UK procurement notice
Additional analytical methods for NDNS biomonitoring
Authority: The Food Standards Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDeveloping our understanding of UK consumers exposure to food additives, and other chemical contaminants, is broad and complex; an important starting point is to increase the evidence base through the investigation of novel approaches to assessing consumer exposure.
The actual use levels of additives in foods may be below the maximum permitted levels and, therefore, accurate consumer exposures to additives in foods are not easy to estimate. Additionally, consumers may be exposed to additives or other chemical contaminants through different sources, and other factors such as dietary preferences, brand loyalty and variable occurrence levels of contaminants, can often make the estimation of actual consumer exposure challenging.
This research project aims to develop analytical methods to support potential future projects aimed at better understanding actual UK consumer exposure to food additives and other chemical contaminants through biomonitoring.
The aim is to develop a package of analytical methods designed for the measurement of biomarkers, and approaches to estimate dietary intakes, from the measurements, of exposure for chemicals of strategic interest to the FSA.
The FSA is seeking to commission a research partner with the capability and capacity to research and define biomonitoring approaches, derive and validate suitable analytical chemistry methods and determine toxicological approaches for the estimation of intakes of chemicals.
The FSA will require the research partner to identify suitable urinary biomarkers for the substances (of groups of substances) of interest to the FSA, and to develop and validate analytical methods that can reliably and quantitatively measure them in human urine. The FSA will further require, for each chemical of interest, an approach for estimating the systemic exposure and theoretical dietary intake of the relevant substances, from the urinary excretion of the corresponding biomarkers.
CPV: Research and development consultancy services · Research and development services and related consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£200,000
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 80%
- Commercial: 20%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical: See Specification for more details. The technical criteria is broken down into 7 sections.
- Commercial: See specification for more details. The Commercial section is split into 5 sub-sections.
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Cancelled
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 1 Apr 2026, 09:23 BST
- Last source update
- 6 May 2026, 14:07 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Jul 2026
- Authority reference
C435068- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-030107- Latest notice
- Procurement termination notice (UK12)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067a35Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Payment of valid and undisputed invoices will be made within 30 days of receipt of the invoice or, if later, the date by which the payment falls due in accordance with the invoice, which must be submitted promptly by the Supplier.
All invoices must be sent, quoting a valid Purchase Order Number (PO Number) and any other relevant details including the minimum required information set out in Section 68(9) of the Procurement Act 2023, to: fsa.payments@food.gov.uk.
Within 10 Working Days of receipt of your countersigned copy of this Order Form, we will send you a unique PO Number. You must be in receipt of a valid PO Number before submitting an invoice.
To avoid delay in payment it is important that the invoice is compliant and that it includes a valid PO Number, item number (if applicable) and the details (name, email, and telephone number) of your Buyer contact (i.e., Buyer Authorised Representative). Non-compliant invoices may be sent back to you, which may lead to a delay in payment.
- Risks
As this is an evolving research project risks are spread across the deliverables, including but not limited to, scope, timings, regulatory changes, new scientific ways of working. Delays in obtaining, analysing, or synthesising published material could also impact delivery timelines.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 1 May 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 17 Apr 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders for FSA funded projects must be submitted through the health-family single e-Commercial System (Atamis), using the following link: health-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗
Timeline
1 Apr 2026 → 1 Jul 2026 · 6 dates- Tender notice published209 days ago1 Apr 2026, 09:23 BST
- Clarification questions by193 days ago17 Apr 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline179 days ago1 May 2026, 12:00 BST
- Latest notice published174 days ago6 May 2026, 14:07 BST
- Contract starts118 days ago1 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected by117 days ago1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
Notice history
3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 Apr 2026- Tender notice published1 Apr 2026, 09:23 BSTUK4
- Procurement termination notice published6 May 2026, 14:07 BSTUK12
- Status changed to complete6 May 2026, 14:07 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| supplier not published | — | 1 May 2026 | CancelledThe procurement process has been discontinued in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 on the basis that no tenders were submitted. In the absence of competition, the contracting authority is unable to assess bids or achieve value for money, and has therefore elected to terminate the procedure. The Food Standards Agency will review the procurement strategy and consider next steps, which may include revising the requirement and re‑tendering at a later date. |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Procurement termination notice Procurement termination notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender