What Does A Food Testing Laboratory Do?
Great Plains Analytical Laboratory is a full-service food testing laboratory with specific scientific expertise in food chemistry, microbiology, nutritional labeling, contaminants, and cereal science. We are a team of uniquely qualified industry professionals and understand the multitude of risks that food manufacturers are constantly faced with.
Each and every one of our food testing laboratory staff is trained and required to follow the policies set out in our Quality Assurance manuals. Our primary objective is providing unsurpassed quality service, delivering reliable results while continually expanding on our scientific capabilities. All client information is held in strict confidence. Great Plains Analytical Laboratory is recognized for its high level of personal customer service and continually strives to provide cost-effective analytical services to consistently meet or exceed the expectations of our clients. Great Plains Analytical Laboratory is committed to following a quality assurance system in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2005. Great Plains Analytical Laboratory is accredited by A2LA for these protocols (View Certificate).
As regulatory and GFSI food safety partners move towards more preventive based approaches to food safety management systems, via HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and HARPC (Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls) share more than just four letters. They’re both food safety standards based on prevention, but they do differ on execution. Their differences and the similarities aren’t as important as the way they fit together for most food processors. A HARPC plan shouldn’t be considered as a replacement but rather, as a necessary upgrade or modernization to the conventional HACCP plan.
In brief, this preventive control system mandated by FSMA is to be implemented by all food establishments unless specifically exempted. Thus, it applies to food facilities in the U.S. that manufacture, process, pack, distribute, receive, hold or import food, and for those firms exporting foodstuff to the U.S. FDA has issued implementation deadlines for each of the different facility types (kindly refer to updated guidelines on the FDA site, www.fda.gov). Within a HARPC plan, the food safety hazards assessment is broader and encompasses “what could happen” vs. what is “known to happen”.
The 7 Steps of HARPC
1. Assess the hazards—This includes the normal product-specific hazards, along with a broad range of other hazards (above) and facility-specific concerns such as food defense and emergency management issues.
2. Institute Preventive Controls—These include sanitation procedures for food contact points, staff hygiene training, environment monitoring, supplier & COA verification and more.
3. Monitor effectiveness of the controls—Not all controls are measurable by critical limit numbers, but these Preventive Controls can be evaluated on a routine basis.
4. Establish corrective action measures—Recall plans may not seem preventive, but the critical steps between knowing something is wrong with a product and keeping it away from consumers’ hands should involve identifying and correcting the weak spots within the controls. The objective is to prevent occurrences of unsafe and nonconforming food product.
5. Establish verification measures—The process of verification ensures that the facility is effectively meeting its food safety standards on a consistent basis. Contact Great Plains for more information.
6. Follow proper and required recordkeeping—As with any FDA ruling, nothing is properly done until it’s recorded.
7. Reanalyze the plan once every 3 years, or when needed—When changes in process or product happen, HARPC plans should be reevaluated.
Great Plains Analytical Laboratory stands ready to assist you with the consultative assistance to stay ahead in today’s business environment by delivering reliable food testing laboratory services.
· Environmental Monitoring
· COA Verification
· Analytical monitoring of ingredients & in-process production
· Shelf life studies
· Nutritional Labeling
· Allergen detection
Contact Great Plains Analytical Today for your Food Testing Laboratory Services!
