By February of 2022, the FDA has agreed to issue a final rule that the testing of imported food and addressing of identified or suspected food safety problems be conducted by laboratories that voluntarily become accredited and must comply with most aspects of ISO 17025. Many food testing laboratories may already be accredited to the standard, but for others this could be a daunting prospect. Most labs will be confident in ensuring they work to a certain quality standard, making sure that their testing processes are reliable and repeatable, and their instruments and equipment are calibrated and in good repair. This involves not just robust processes – the people working in the lab must ensure they adhere to those processes for things to run smoothly and ultimately, to ensure the lab consistently produces high quality data.
The ISO 17025 standard is a general accreditation for laboratories to ensure that the work they do is of an acceptable level – essentially that there is very little doubt in the results that they produce. When we’re dealing with the highly complex, global food chains of today, we must be sure to have guaranteed measures in place to test and confidently pinpoint any issues. Thermo Scientific™ SampleManager LIMS™ software has capabilities configured to support sections 6-8 of the ISO 17025 standard, covering resources, process requirements and management system review.
We’ve put together a detailed food and beverage eBook to help labs understand the requirements of the standard specific to food and beverage testing, as well as how they can apply a LIMS configured for food and beverage testing to demonstrate compliance.
In an industry where public safety is paramount there is no room for error, so a robust and proven solution is required to drive consistency and reliable data to those who need to make decisions that could impact consumer health.
If you would like to speak with an expert about how your lab can ready itself for compliance with ISO 17025, HACCP or other industry regulations, please contact us today.
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