Lessons Learned – The perspective of a “Veteran” Accredited Food Laboratory

1. New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets Lessons Learned – The perspective of a “Veteran” Accredited Food Laboratory Dan Rice Director – New York State Food Laboratory

2. The new “New York State Food Laboratory”

3. Major Testing Programs: • Food and Dairy Microbiology • Food and Dairy Chemistry • Pesticide residues including the USDA Pesticide Data Program (PDP) • Animal feed and pet food including the FDA BSE Feed Safety program • Fertilizer

4. Pathogens Currently Tested For: • E. coli O157:H7 and other STEC • Salmonella enterica • Listeria monocytogenes • Shigella spp. • Vibrio spp. • Campylobacter jejuni and coli • Bacillus spp. • Staphylococcus aureus and associated enterotoxin

5. Chemical Hazards: • Antibiotic, pesticide and other chemical residues in food and water • Poison/toxin assays • Food allergen testing • Toxic elements • Non-permitted food coloring • Sulfites and other preservatives • Histamine content of seafood • Filth and foreign material

6. Perform genetic “fingerprinting” of pathogens - participate in PulseNet, an international program for tracking foodborne pathogens PFGE strain typing through PulseNet

7. Other programs: • Participate in both FERN Microbiology and Chemistry programs • Newly funded FDA RRT state • Mentoring 3 laboratories as part of FDA accreditation cooperative agreement program

8. Lab staff matrix: • Lab Director • Assistant Director • QA Manager - QA Officer for Microbiology - QA Officer for Chemistry

9. Lab staff matrix: • Section Managers • Training Coordinator • RRT Coordinator • Analytical/technical staff • Support Staff • Student Interns

10. The Path to Accreditation: • Began the quest in earnest for accreditation to the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 standard in 2006 • Initial incentive - pursuit of accreditation was a requirement for continued funding by USDA for the PDP

11. The Path to Accreditation: • Decided early on that all sections of the laboratory would be brought in line with the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 standard • Received accreditation in 2008 • Accredited to both Chemical and Biological testing

12. Post-Accreditation: • Has been a transformative experience for our lab • Vastly improved laboratory performance and quality of work • Just underwent our second biennial A2LA assessment

13. Key Tools to Use for Continued Improvement: • Management Review • Corrective Action Reports aka “CARS” • Preventive Action Reports aka “PARS” • Auditing

14. Issues That Became Prominent After Accreditation: • Document control • Tracking historical revisions and records • Sufficient numbers of trained internal auditors • Training new staff on quality systems, accreditation • Sustainability

15. Expanding and Enhancing Impact of Accreditation: • Bringing new methods and/or technologies in scope • Often easier to bring a new method within scope than an existing method • Finding Suitable PT’s

16. Simple words of advice: • Don’t over-think • Keep it simple! • Develop and use a network of peers for help and advice

17. Questions? Spring view from Kamiak Butte, Whitman County WA