Food Safety Magazine, February/March 2013

AccreditationFood Microbiological Laboratories’Calicchia recalls, “During our on-siteassessment, the evaluators recommendedthat we chronicle our improvementprojects as well as improvementsto methodologies, systems, facilities,communications and personnel. Thedocumentation would help us recognizewhere we focused our energies most. Forinstance, if we focused more on improvingmethodologies, but very little onfacilities, we might have missed some opportunities.The documentation wouldhelp us identify gaps where there mightbe inconsistencies.”Once a testing laboratory has demonstratedtechnical competence andcompliance with the accreditation criteria,it is granted a Certificate of Accreditation—CA—(Figure1). The certificate,which includes a scope that describesthe laboratory’s technical capabilities,is given to the laboratory and a copy isplaced on the AB’s website. The CA alsois made available to consumers, potentialcustomers, stakeholders and regulatorybodies.Reading between the LinesWhen an AB issues a CA to a laboratory,it will include the name and contactinformation for the laboratory, thestandard (ISO/IEC 17025) used for theaccreditation and the scope of the accreditation.Keep in mind, ISO/IEC 17025 is ageneric standard used to accredit laboratoriesin many different fields, rangingfrom biological testing (food testing) toelectrical testing (fiber optics) and othertechnical disciplines. It is important toreview the details in a laboratory’s CAbefore contracting with the laboratoryfor its services. The scope will list thedetails of the laboratory’s qualificationsunder the accreditation.Just because a laboratory is accreditedto ISO/IEC 17025 doesn’t mean it isqualified to perform Listeria testing asper the USDA-MLG. The ability of thelaboratory to perform the relevant testingmust be listed on its scope of accreditation.A review of the laboratory’s CA andscope will help customers select appropriatelaboratories to perform therequired tests and/or calibrations. •Mohan Sabaratnam is qualitymanager with International AccreditationService Inc. (IAS). He has beeninvolved in the development andoperation of laboratory accreditationprograms for the last 16 years andcurrently manages the IAS food safety managementsystem accreditation program.Pat McCullen is vice presidentand chief technical officer and isresponsible for overseeing technicalactivities for IAS. He has over 30years of experience in laboratorytesting, inspection, product certificationand conformity assessment. He was instrumentalin launching the IAS technical advisory council on foodsafety, serving as chairman at the inaugural meeting.F e b r u a r y • M a r c h 2 0 1 3 27Pickering_AminoAcid_FoodSafety.p1 Pickering_AminoAcid_FoodSafety.indd 1 15/19/10 2:00:32 PM 5/18/10 5:43:25 PM