Official control of food safety and quality, requirements for national reference laboratory

Abstract

Delivering safe food is a shared responsibility of many stakeholders. Each participant in the food chain has their share in providing safe food. Developing a management system can better ensure that food is safe and of good quality. The Food Safety Law establishes an integrated system of official controls for food safety, monitoring, and other activities which covers all stages of production, processing, and distribution. Wherever food is produced, processed or put into circulation the competent authorities carry out regular controls and upon a plan or suspicion take samples for examination in official laboratories. An important part of the food control system is laboratory analysis. Food analysis is performed by manufacturers, suppliers, research laboratories, and official laboratories. With laboratory testing of food, all stakeholders receive information about various parameters that affect food safety and quality, such as composition, structure, physicochemical properties, and sensory characteristics. One of the most important reasons for food analysis is to make sure that it is safe and nutritious and meets the desired quality standards. Microbiological and chemical contamination is hard to detect without testing. Laboratories involved in the analysis of official samples should operate and should be accredited following the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. The purpose of this paper is to review the basic principles of food control systems, with special reference to the requirements for reference laboratories. This descriptive study describes the features of formal food control with a focus on the performance of a quality management system in a national reference food control laboratory. Key words: food safety, food quality, quality management system, reference laboratory, accreditation