| | Accreditation status of the Agri-Food Laboratories Branch | List of accredited acopes | How are labs accredited? | Why is accreditation important? | What is ISO?
Accreditation status of Food Safety and Animal Health Division Laboratories
The Food Safety and Animal Health Division (FSAHD) Laboratories were first granted accreditation status in September 2001.This accreditation was granted under the SCC standards CAN-P-4D (ISO/IEC 17025): General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025-1999) and CAN-P-1587: Guidelines for the Accreditation of Agriculture and Food Products Testing Laboratories. These standards encompass ISO 17025, CITAC, EURACHEM and European cooperation for Accreditation. The Agri-Food Laboratories Branch is listed by the Standards Council of Canada as Laboratory # 410. To view the official scope of accreditation on the SCC website, click here: Food Safety and Animal Health Division Scope of Accreditation.
In order to maintain this status, the laboratories are audited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) every two years. The audit is performed by a lead auditor from the SCC and a panel of technical experts from across Canada. All of the eight individual units that comprise the FSAHD laboratories have tests included in the scope of accreditation. The FSAHD Labs currently have a total of 43 accredited scopes.
Table 1. List of Accredited Scopes as of July 25, 2007.
 | SOP number | SOP Title | AFLB Work Unit |
| 1 | MFHPB-18 | Determination of the Aerobic Colony Count in Foods | Food Microbiology |
| 2 | MFHPB-20 | Methods for the Isolation and Identification of Salmonella from Foods | Food Microbiology |
| 3 | MFHBP-28 | The Qualicon BAX System Method for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in a Variety of Foods | Food Microbiology |
| 4 | MFHBP-29 | The Qualicon BAX System Method for the Detection of Salmonella in a Variety of Foods | Food Microbiology |
| 5 | MFHPB-30 | Isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from all Food and Environmental Samples | Food Microbiology |
| 6 | MFHPB-31 | Determination of Coliforms in Foods Using Violet Red Bile Agar | Food Microbiology |
| 7 | MFHPB-74 | Enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes in Food | Food Microbiology |
| 8 | CS-0332 | Lead in Milk by GFAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 9 | CS-0333 | Mercury in Milk by CVAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 10 | CS-0334 | Metals in Milk by ICP-AES (aluminum, cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, tin and zinc) | Chemistry Section |
| 11 | CS-0382 | Arsenic in Milk by HGAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 12 | CS-0401 | Avermectins and Ionophores in Milk by LC-MS/MS (doramectin, eprinomectin, ivermectin, lasalocid, monensin, narasin, salinomycin) | Chemistry Section |
| 13 | CS-0209 | Moisture in Honey | Chemistry Section |
| 14 | CS-0213 | Color in Honey | Chemistry Section |
| 15 | CS-0338 | Sulfonamides in Honey by LC-MS/MS | Chemistry Section |
| 16 | CS-0359 | Mercury in Honey by CVAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 17 | CS-0361 | Metals in Honey by ICP-AES (aluminum, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, sodium, sulfur and zinc.) | Chemistry Section |
| 18 | CS-0362 | Lead and Cadmium in Honey by GFAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 19 | CS-0363 | Arsenic in Honey by HGAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 20 | CS-0374 | Antibiotics in Honey by LC-MS/MS (chlortetracycline, desmycosin, erythromycin, lincomycin, oxytetracycline, tetracycline, tilmicosin,and tylosin) | Chemistry Section |
| 21 | CS-0205 | Sulfamethazine Screen in Hog Urine by TLC | Chemistry Section |
| 22 | CS-0329 | Lead in Animal Tissue by GFAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 23 | CS-0330 | Mercury in Animal Tissue by CVAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 24 | CS-0331 | Metals in Animal Tissue by ICP-AES (arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, molybdenum, selenium and zinc) | Chemistry Section |
| 25 | CS-0335 | Antibiotics in Animal Tissue by LC-MS/MS (penicillin G and V, erythromycin, lincomycin, tilmicosin, tylosin, sulfadiazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfadoxine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfapyridine, sulfaquinoxaline, sulfathiazole, chlortetracycline, oxytetracyline, and tetracycline. | Chemistry Section |
| 26 | CS-0399 | Hormones in Animal Tissue by LC-MS/MS (flunixin, melengesterol, trenbolone) | Chemistry Section |
| 27 | CS-0357 | Antibiotics in Water by LC-MS/MS (ampicillin, chlortetracycline, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, lincomycin, oxytetracycline, penicillin G, sulfabenzamide, sulfadiazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfadoxine, sulfamerazine, sulfamethazine, sulfapyridine, sulfaquinoxaline, sulfathiazole, tetracycline, tilmicosin, trimethoprim, and tylosin) | Chemistry Section |
| 28 | CS-0389 | Lead in Whole Blood by GFAAS | Chemistry Section |
| 29 | CS-0400 | Avermectins and Ionophores in Water by LC-MS/MS (eprinomectin, ivermectin, lasalocid, monensin, narasin, and salinomycin) | Chemistry Section |
| 30 | PH-0320 | Detection of Abnormal Prion Protein in Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Chronic Wasting Disease and Scrapie using Immunohistochemistry Staining | Pathology Histology |
| 31 | VS-0036 | Screening for Mycobacterium paratuberculosis Antibody with Automated Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (IDEXX and BIOCOR) Kits | Virology/ Serology |
| 32 | VS-0274 | Screening of Salmonella Infection in Swine Herds by Mix-Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (Svanovir) Kit | Virology/ Serology |
| 33 | VS-0319 | Detection of Abnormal Prion Protein in Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Chronic Wasting Disease and Scrapie using BIO-RAD TsSeE ELISA | Virology/ Serology |
| 34 | BA-0266 | Isolation and Identification of Salmonella Species from Veterinary and Environmental Samples | Veterinary Microbiology |
| 35 | BA-0270 | Bovine Fecal Culture Protocol for the Recovery of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis | Veterinary Microbiology |
| 36 | BA-0307 | Sensititre Susceptibility Testing | Veterinary Microbiology |
| 37 | PP-0272 | Pulsed field gel electrophoresis: DNA Fingerprinting for Salmonella spp. and Eschericia coli | Molecular Biology |
| 38 | PP-0276 | Polymerase Chain Reaction for Detection of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in bovine fecal samples | Molecular Biology |
| 39 | PP-0300 | Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis: DNA Fingerprinting for Listeria spp. | Molecular Biology |
| 40 | PP-0305 | Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis: DNA Fingerprinting forCampylobacter spp. | Molecular Biology |
| 41 | PP-0318 | Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for Detection of Salmonella species | Molecular Biology |
| 42 | PA-0339 | Malachite Green Negative Staining Procedure for Detecting Cryptosporidium Oocysts from Feces | Parasitology |
| 43 | PA-0407 | Acid Fast Staining for Cryptosporidium spp. | Parasitology |
How are Labs Accredited?
Laboratories seeking ISO accreditation must first have a comprehensive Quality System in place. This Quality System must be thoroughly documented in a manual describing all 24 elements of the Standard. These 24 elements deal with all aspects of laboratory operation, both managerial and technical. Topics included are: review of requests and contracts; subcontracting of tests; purchasing supplies and services; service to the client; complaints; corrective action; internal audits; test methods including sampling; equipment; measurement traceability; handling and transportation of samples; assuring the quality of test results; and reporting the results.
Under the conditions of ISO 17025, individual methods, and not the laboratory itself, are granted accreditation. The individual accredited tests make up the laboratory's Scope of Accreditation. Before a laboratory method can be accredited, it must be thoroughly evaluated through a rigorous process known as validation. However, during an external audit, not only are the individual methods examined. A lab must in fact demonstrate to the auditors that every aspect of its operations, i.e., its quality system, complies with the requirements of the international standard.
Once a lab has completed these requirements, it submits its application to the Standards Council of Canada (SCC). This application includes a copy of the Quality Manual and supporting documents. Once these documents have been reviewed and accepted, the SCC conducts an audit of the lab. The audit is performed by a lead auditor from the SCC, and several technical experts. Audits typically take two days, after which an audit report is produced. This report list the deficiencies found by the auditors. These must be corrected by the lab within a specified time frame. Once the lab has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the SCC that it has corrected these deficiencies, it can be officially accredited. Labs are audited at two year intervals.
Why is Accreditation Important?
Accreditation provides an increased level of confidence in the data and information produced by a lab. This status allows the FSAHD laboratories the opportunity to collaborate with other recognized facilities on an equal basis. Stakeholders such as Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and Alberta Health and Wellness can enter into joint projects with FSAHD knowing that they can expect high standards of excellence.
Consumers are increasingly demanding that all sectors of the food production chain meet stringent safety and quality criteria. The agriculture and food producers of Alberta must meet these demands in order to compete in the global marketplace. If the FSAHD is to guide and encourage Alberta producers in this endeavour, it must be able to meet recognized quality standards itself. By achieving an accredited Quality System, the FSAHD has made significant progress towards this goal.
What is ISO?
ISO is the International Organization for Standardization that is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It was set up in 1947 to develop international standards for products, processes and systems. In Canada, it is represented by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) in Ottawa. The SCC monitors the conformance of Canadian organizations to the ISO standards. The SCC has bilateral agreements with similar organizations throughout the world ensuring that SCC accreditation's are recognized everywhere.
To see other FSAHD Quality sites, click on the following links:
Laboratory Quality Systems
ISO Accreditation for Food Safety and Animal Health Division Laboratories
|
For more information on the Standards Council of Canada and ISO click on the following links:
Food Safety and Animal Health Division Scope of Accreditation
International Organization for Standardization
Standards Council of Canada
Please contact Gary Higgs for more information on AFLB's Quality System and accreditation.
 |
|