Food Safety Magazine, February/March 2013

Accreditationment undertaken by the laboratory, providinga high degree of reliability to itsmeasurements. Accreditation is a formal,independent process that ensures laboratoriesmeet established management,quality and technical standards and arecompetent to perform the services forcustomers and stakeholders within theirrecognized scope of accreditation.Food testing laboratories depend onABs to perform thorough assessmentsand to provide timely feedback for improvementsbased on the AB’s findings.For instance, Melissa Calicchia, ownerof Food Microbiological Laboratories,based in Cypress, CA, is a State ofCalifornia (ELAP) and ISO/IEC 17025microbiological food testing laboratoryaccredited by International AccreditationService Inc. (IAS), based in Whittier, CA.Calicchia says, “I chose to earn accreditationbecause it demonstrates that our laboperates to a global standard with rigorousexamination of methods, facilitiesand staff.”Analytica Alimentaria GMBH, anindependent laboratory also accreditedunder IAS with laboratories in Germanyand Spain, specializes in the analysis ofpesticide residues and other potentialfood contaminants. Udo Lampe, generalmanager for Analytica Alimentaria, adds,“Accreditation by a neutral and technicallycapable organization is the onlyway to confirm that our laboratory meetsthe technical requirements for testingand that we fulfill our own qualitysystem.”Standards of EvaluationThe process of becoming accreditedand maintaining accreditation involvesongoing technical and quality assessmentsof a laboratory’s equipment,personnel qualifications and methods/procedures used for performing calibration/testingand can vary from countryto country. In the U.S., for example,expanding regulatory oversight willdictate advances in these standards (see“Anticipated Regulatory Changes Pushfor Accreditation Standards,” p. 26).Accreditation in the U.S. is complexand highly sector specific. As a result, theU.S. has multiple ABs, some of whichspecialize to serve certain industries.When selecting an accredited calibrationor testing laboratory to test your productsor calibrate your equipment, makesure that the AB is a signatory memberof the International Laboratory AccreditationCooperation (ILAC) Mutual RecognitionArrangement (MRA). ILAC is a• ATP Monitoring - 15 seconds• Enterobacteriaceae - 8 hours• Coliform - 8 hours or less• E. coli - 8 hours or less• NEW! Total Viable Count - 7 hours• NEW! Listeria - 16 hours• Allergen Prevention - 15 secondsFREEMENTION THIS ADCALL: 1.888.HYGIENAwww.hygiena.cominfo@hygiena.comglobally recognized international cooperationof laboratory and inspection ABs.These member ABs participate in a rigorouspeer evaluation process based ona common standard (ISO/IEC 17011)to ensure that each signatory maintainscompetence to provide accreditationservices. The result of this MRA is thatthe reports of laboratories accredited bySAVINGS CODE: 2013FSF e b r u a r y • M a r c h 2 0 1 3 25