Whether you’re meeting a regulatory requirement, assuring the safety of a newly developed product, or verifying a product’s labeling, you’ll need a lab to test the ingredients you use. Food ingredient testing labs can assess the shelf life, authenticity, and nutrition of a product, as well as look for microbiological safety, allergens, and contaminants. However, not all testing labs provide the same quality of tests, and depending on their expertise and equipment, you could receive vastly different results about what’s in your product.
Requirements for a Reputable Lab
The best way to ensure the lab you want to work with is reputable is to check which tests they have accreditation for. Any lab you work with should have testing accredited to ISO 17025, which is the international standard. Additionally, different tests have different forms of accreditation, so be sure to do your research on accreditation for the specific test you need. However, if the lab you’re looking at doesn’t have accreditation for a specific test but does have accreditation for a multitude of other tests, it’s a good sign they do good work and will deliver quality results.
Microbiological Testing
Some retailers require the laboratory you use to be RSA-accredited (Retail Supplementary Audit). This process is an independent audit outside of the lab’s ISO accreditation. It requires the food ingredient testing lab to comply with specific retailer requirements for the management, control, and reporting of their work. The lab will also need to use approved methods of testing to help manufacturers, retailers, and labs work closely together to ensure consistent, accurate, and reliable results that can be defended in the case of wrongful accusations.
You can rely on BeaconPoint Labs, a food ingredient testing lab, to deliver consistent and reliable results, so call today!
