MFRP Standard 10 and Lab Accreditation-Role in an

Integrated Food Safety System

Steve SobekState of Wisconsin

Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection

Combined Lab Accreditation and MFRP Alliance MeetingMarch 10, 2015

Integrated Food Safety System-Goals

Establish and implement national standards to ensure consistency across all jurisdictions.

Maximize resource utilization and sharing across jurisdictions.

Trust and Certainty

MFRP Standard 10 – Laboratory Support“The State program has access to a laboratory that

is capable of analyzing a variety of samples including food, environmental, and clinical samples.”

“The State program maintains a list of services for routine and non-routine analyses such as biological hazard determinations.”

“The State program has a contract or written agreement with its primary servicing laboratories.”

Standard 10 is not a laboratory standard, it is a program standard about laboratories

Standard 10 – Building Trust

Standard 10 is guidance to program managers to understand their own sampling needs and data quality objectives, and assure that the labs they use can meet those needs.

Ultimately it is about maintaining a dialogue with the laboratory so that we promote consistency and develop trust and eliminate uncertainty.

Expectations of Consistent Quality

Standard 10 - Accreditation“The State program utilizes laboratories that

have a current A2LA accreditation”

“Or, the State program utilizes laboratories that have quality assurance programs that incorporate management and technical requirements found in ISO/IEC 17025:2005”

Benchmarks

Something that can be used as a way to judge the quality or levels of other, similar things.

To measure according to specified standards in order to compare it with and improve one’s own product.

Across Jurisdictions – ISO 17025

Accreditation standards are global – International Standards Organization (ISO)

Non-biased third party designation of qualityCommercial labs and food manufacturers see

it as a normal course of businessA2LA Biological – 233 Labs, 75% provide

commercial servicesA2LA Chemical – 160 Labs, 60% provide

commercial services

Accreditation – It’s Good Business Spinach 2006 – E. coli O157:H7 September 25, 2006 Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture Laboratory, detects and confirms the presence of E coli O157:H7 in spinach samples collected from patients by local health sanitarians.

USDA – CIS, Cooperative Interstate Shipment

MFPR Standard 10Promotes consistent qualityConsistency promotes trust and certaintyTrust and certainty promotes acceptance of

data across jurisdictionsAcceptance of data across jurisdictions is

resource sharing and integration