Quality In The Food Analysis Laboratory

Fit-for-purpose is a phrase familiar to all users of analytical data, who need to be assured that data provided by laboratories is both appropriate and of the required quality. Quality in the Food Analysis Laboratory surveys the procedures that a food analysis laboratory must consider to meet such requirements. The need to introduce quality assurance, the different quality models that are available and the legislative requirements are considered. Specific aspects of laboratory practice and particular areas of accreditation which may cause problems for analytical laboratories are also discussed. Covering for the first time those areas of direct importance to food analysis laboratories, this unique book will serve as an aid to those laboratories when introducing new measures and justifying those chosen.

Foods are analyzed by scientists working in all of the major sectors of the food industry including food manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, analytical service laboratories, government laboratories, and University research laboratories. The food industry is subject to particularly strict regulations on the quality and safety of its products. This is important because if food is contaminated, the consequences can be serious. In order to guarantee the industry's strict quality and safety standards, reliable instruments and methods are needed in the laboratory. These instruments and methods must meet highest standards. The present book highlights some important protocols used for Food Analysis and Quality Control. This information is critical to our rational understanding of the factors that determine the properties of foods, as well as to our ability to economically produce foods that are consistently safe, nutritious and desirable and for consumers to make informed choices about their diet. The objective of this course is to review the basic principles of the analytical procedures commonly used to analyze foods and to discuss their application to specific food components.

With the help of leading Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) microbiology specialists in Europe, a complete set of guidelines on how to start and implement a quality system in a microbiological laboratory has been prepared, supported by the European Commission through the Measurement and Testing Programme. The working group included food and water microbiologists from various testing laboratories, universities and industry, as well as statisticians and QA and QC specialists in chemistry. This book contains the outcome of their work. It has been written with the express objective of using simple but accurate wording so as to be accessible to all microbiology laboratory staff. To facilitate reading, the more specialized items, in particular some statistical treatments, have been added as an annex to the book. All QA and QC tools mentioned within these guidelines have been developed and applied by the authors in their own laboratories. All aspects dealing with reference materials and interlaboratory studies have been taken in a large part from the projects conducted within the BCR and Measurement and Testing Programmes of the European Commission. With so many different quality control procedures, their introduction in a laboratory would appear to be a formidable task. The authors recognize that each laboratory manager will choose the most appropriate procedures, depending on the type and size of the laboratory in question. Accreditation bodies will not expect the introduction of all measures, only those that are appropriate for a particular laboratory. Features of this book: • Gives all quality assurance and control measures to be taken, from sampling to expression of results • Provides practical aspects of quality control to be applied both for the analyst and top management • Describes the use of reference materials for statistical control of methods and use of certified reference materials (including statistical tools).

This second edition laboratory manual was written to accompany Food Analysis, Fourth Edition, ISBN 978-1-4419-1477-4, by the same author. The 21 laboratory exercises in the manual cover 20 of the 32 chapters in the textbook. Many of the laboratory exercises have multiple sections to cover several methods of analysis for a particular food component of characteristic. Most of the laboratory exercises include the following: introduction, reading assignment, objective, principle of method, chemicals, reagents, precautions and waste disposal, supplies, equipment, procedure, data and calculations, questions, and references. This laboratory manual is ideal for the laboratory portion of undergraduate courses in food analysis.

Analytical chemical results touch everyones lives can we eat the food? do I have a disease? did the defendant leave his DNA at the crime scene? should I invest in that gold mine? When a chemist measures something how do we know that the result is appropriate? What is fit for purpose in the context of analytical chemistry? Many manufacturing and service companies have embraced traditional statistical approaches to quality assurance, and these have been adopted by analytical chemistry laboratories. However the right chemical answer is never known, so there is not a direct parallel with the manufacture of ball bearings which can be measured and assessed. The customer of the analytical services relies on the quality assurance and quality control procedures adopted by the laboratory. It is the totality of the QA effort, perhaps first brought together in this text, that gives the customer confidence in the result. QA in the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory takes the reader through all aspects of QA, from the statistical basics and quality control tools to becoming accredited to international standards. The latest understanding of concepts such as measurement uncertainty and metrological traceability are explained for a working chemist or her client. How to design experiments to optimize an analytical process is included, together with the necessary statistics to analyze the results. All numerical manipulation and examples are given as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that can be implemented on any personal computer. Different kinds of interlaboratory studies are explained, and how a laboratory is judged in proficiency testing schemes is described. Accreditation to ISO 17025 or OECD GLP is nearly obligatory for laboratories of any pretension to quality. Here the reader will find an introduction to the requirements and philosophy of accreditation. Whether completing a degree course in chemistry or working in a busy analytical laboratory, this book is a single source for an introduction into quality assurance.

This third edition laboratory manual was written to accompany Food Analysis, Fifth Edition, by the same author. New to this third edition of the laboratory manual are four introductory chapters that complement both the textbook chapters and the laboratory exercises. The 24 laboratory exercises in the manual cover 21 of the 35 chapters in the textbook. Many of the laboratory exercises have multiple sections to cover several methods of analysis for a particular food component or characteristic. Most of the laboratory exercises include the following: background, reading assignment, objective, principle of method, chemicals, reagents, precautions and waste disposal, supplies, equipment, procedure, data and calculations, questions, and references. This laboratory manual is ideal for the laboratory portion of undergraduate courses in food analysis.