Iso/iec 17025:2005 Accreditation of The Indiana State Department of Health Lab

The purpose of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) is to improve the safety of thenation's food supply through an increased focus on outbreak prevention. At the laboratory level,FSMA will help create a nationally integrated food safety system aimed at enhancing thecapacity of quality testing of State manufactured food by mandating primary food testing labs toattain accreditation. As an accredited lab, the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH)Laboratories will be better prepared to address public health and safety concerns in Indiana andthe nation. Accreditation of the ISDH Food Microbiology and Chemistry Laboratories willreinforce the agency's objective to provide high-quality data and testing reliability essential toboth promoting FSMA and meeting the ISO 17025:2005 standards.The goal of the ISDH Laboratories is to achieve and maintain ISO 17025:2005 lab accreditationfor manufactured food regulatory testing, both chemical and microbiological. This would includebut not be limited to the improvement of a Quality Management System, full implementation ofdocument control, development/implementation of analyst training and competency verification,extensive review of analytical standard operating procedures, and selecting the proficiencytesting programs to meet the requirements of the accrediting body. The ISDH Laboratoriesintend to maintain involvement with FERN in all of the available areas of expertise. Laboratoryaccreditation will also assist the ISDH Food Protection Program in achieving conformancewith the Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards (MFRPS).