[A Closer Look at Labs] How to Select Your Contract Lab

The laboratory you choose to test your product and environment can be making million-dollar decisions for you. How can you know if you are selecting a quality lab?

According to laboratory representatives themselves, you should look for:

ACCREDITATION. “If you can find an accredited lab, that’s your first line of defense,” said Julie Honsa, QA manager at RTech Laboratories of Land O’Lakes, Minneapolis, Minn. Accreditation gives you assurance that the lab has standards in place and has someone looking at its processes and practices. [Editor’s note: accreditation is considered to be a significant factor in validating quality by most, but certainly not all, labs.]

CONFIDENTIALITY. RTech was founded as an in-house lab for Land O’Lakes, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t do work for the company’s competitors. All RTech employees sign confidentiality agreements and the lab conducts annual training on confidentiality, Honsa said. Samples are kept secured and segregated; there is no difference in how internal and external tests are run.

Confidentiality is very important. “We don’t discuss external business with anyone in the company,” she said.

A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. Does the lab have a quality management system it uses to assess itself, and does it implement corrective action when needed? If a lab collects such data regularly, it can look at trending, make long-term improvements and provide better overall service. “Unless it has a system in place, it never has this ability,” Honsa said. “I really feel that some of the labs that don’t have a management system in place don’t service their customers as well.”

TURN-AROUND TIME. With the faster transportation systems available today, the location of a plant is not nearly as critical as it was in the past. “Today everything can be electronic and overnight shipping,” Honsa said, “so it doesn’t really matter.” There are times, though, when the fastest shipping can’t get a sample cross-country quick enough. Then, geography can become a deciding factor to ensure preservation of the sample or required turn-around time.

Testing methods also can impact turn-around time. For example, said Tom Zierenberg, food safety programs director for Microbac, Wexford, Pa., because DNA-based methods don’t need extended confirmation steps, they can reduce testing time by four or five days.

SUBCONTRACTING DISCLOSURE. Even large laboratories will subcontract out some testing. Some testing is so rarely required or is so specific that the lab makes the business decision to outsource that testing with external experts instead. Although it is not a regulatory requirement, it is something that the customer should know and, in fact, accredited laboratories are required to provide this information in writing prior to the test being conducted. 

FULL-SERVICE. “One of the things we like to recommend is a full-service lab,” said Victor Kowalski, quality assurance manager for ABC Research, Gainesville, Fla. If a producer is seeing some greening in its product and sends a sample for testing, and  the lab runs only microbiological tests, the sample may come back negative for microbes, but the producer’s problem is not resolved. The sample can be sent on to a chemical analysis lab, but that lab then has to interpret the first lab’s results. If the sample is initially sent to a full-service lab, both microbiological and chemistry tests can be conducted.

FOOD SAFETY RESOURCE. “You shouldn’t be looking at just a lab,” said Kurt Westmoreland, division vice president of business operations for Silliker, Homewood, Ill. “In today’s environment, we don’t see food safety as just a lab entity, we see food safety as a full service provider.”

Instead, look at companies that can assist your plant in food safety by examining data to find potential problems in the plant. “They should have enough expertise so if you’re in a crisis situation, they can identify ways to get you out of the crisis,” Westmoreland said. Your lab also should be a reliable resource in addressing other quality assurance and safety concerns, such as auditing and employee training.

REPUTATION. Check around: Talk with other processors and get their recommendations. Does the laboratory have a good reputation among its peers and in the industry? “Reputation is definitely something that’s important,” said John Szpylka, technical manager for Medallion Laboratories. “Customer referrals are a strong part of getting new business. Everyone can sound great when they’re promoting themselves, but what are their customers saying?”

SPECIFICITY. Plants should ensure that the tests they order will be appropriate to their product. “Just because it has been validated for a given matrix, doesn’t mean it will work with everything else,” said Mansour Samadpour, owner of IEH Laboratories, Lake Forest Park, Wash. Before the first test, a plant should request validation studies using the same types of material as its product.

PARTNERSHIP POTENTIAL. This is an area many plants are losing sight of, said Charles Deibel, president and COO of Deibel Laboratories. “It’s kind of that old-school, gentlemen’s handshake trust factor,” he said. The plant needs to trust the lab to protect its product and reputation. “If the lab tells you you have Salmonella, you have to be able to trust that as well,” said Deibel.

GOOD SERVICE. “The biggest thing is are they a really good service organization, not just as a lab, but a good service organization period,” said Zierenberg. And, as RTech’s Honsa added: “I think the most important thing is communication with the customer,” he said.

RESULTS. “First and foremost, make sure you’re getting the right numbers,” Szpylka said. Before trusting in a laboratory, a plant should do something to gain confidence in its results, such as sending a test sample or visiting the lab. “Make sure you’re getting results that are accurate and that you have confidence in.”

Is quality control data provided along with the results? Although a laboratory will not necessarily interpret results for a plant, if the processor provides specifications, the lab can include information on whether or not the results meet the specification or measure of uncertainty, Honsa said.

CONCLUSION. Every processor will have its own needs and requirements for sample testing and the working relationship with its lab. But looking at and asking questions pertaining to these areas will help to ensure that your plant selects the lab that is right for you.
 
The author is staff editor of QA magazine.