Lab Matters Summer 2016 | Page 17

food safety
ISO / IEC 17025:2005 accreditation in laboratories across the US

Public Health Laboratories Gear Up for Accreditation by Robyn Pyle , MS , specialist , Food Safety

When the Food Safety Modernization Act ( FSMA ) was enacted in 2011 , the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) was charged with improving public health protection and strengthening an integrated food safety system . Achieving a level of standardization in laboratories across the country allows for the seamless acceptance and use of laboratory data across federal , state and local jurisdictions .

ISO / IEC 17025:2005 accreditation helps provide that national level of standardization , which is why FDA has invested millions of dollars into cooperative agreement programs aimed to help food and feed laboratories across the country achieve ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation . In 2012 , FDA awarded 5-year cooperative agreements ( ISO CAP ) to 31 laboratories that perform testing for regulatory programs participating in the Manufactured Food Retail Programs Standards ( MFRPS ) program to achieve ( 23 laboratories at $ 300,000 each ), maintain and / or enhance ( eight laboratories at $ 150,000 each ) their ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation . In 2015 , FDA awarded funding to an additional six food laboratories , as well as 20 animal feed laboratories that perform testing for regulatory programs participating in the Animal Food Regulatory Program Standards ( AFRPS ) program . These laboratories plan to achieve or expand their accreditation by 2020 .

Through a cooperative agreement with FDA , APHL partnered with the Association of American Feed Control Officials ( AAFCO ) and the Association of Food and Drug Officials ( AFDO ) to create resources for all laboratories to use on their accreditation journeys . These include a document repository that houses sample documents and templates that laboratories can use to comply with the ISO standard , and a members-only discussion board for open discussion of issues laboratories are facing . APHL ’ s Accreditation Trainings website offers a current list of the ISO 17025 trainings available , as well as a list of archived webinars that include topics such as measurement of uncertainty , control charting and trend analysis , and document and record control . The associations provide this support for all laboratories working towards achieving ISO accreditation .
Several food and feed laboratories have achieved accreditation without the ISO CAP funding . Marion County Public Health Department Laboratory first became accredited back in 2005 . Montana Department of Agriculture was accredited by another institution and used knowledge and paperwork from that process to become ISO / IEC 17025 accredited within 10 months . Arizona State Public Health Laboratory became accredited in 2015 , utilizing the knowledge and experiences of other laboratories to help in their ISO journey . With the first round of cooperative agreements ending in 2017 , laboratories
APHL offers consultation services with an ISO / IEC 17025:2005 subject matter expert to help laboratories like Arizona achieve accreditation without dedicated federal funding .
across the country are preparing for their accreditation assessments in the coming months . Several states have already achieved their accreditation goals . Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene , Nebraska Department of Agriculture , State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa , Kansas Department of Agriculture , Indiana Department of Health , South Carolina Department of Health and Environment , Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory , Texas Department of Health Services and Rhode Island State Health Laboratory have either achieved accreditation for the first time or expanded their scope of accreditation . The remaining laboratories are on track to become accredited by August 2017 .
The landscape of laboratory accreditation is expanding as laboratorians , regulators and legislators realize the value and importance of ISO / IEC 17025 accreditation . A reliable and capable laboratory network will advance public health protection and greatly improve the safety of the United States food supply .
PublicHealthLabs
@ APHL
APHL . org
Summer 2016 LAB MATTERS 15