Guidance for Selecting an Outside Laboratory

The bottom line is that selecting a contract laboratory should be an organized process. Any company that utilizes, or is considering utilizing, a third-party laboratory should develop, document, and implement procedures to do this (Fig. 1). Third-party audits are a fact of life in modern food processing. The expectation is that food processors, both large and small, will be able to pass a third-party audit; for most, this would be a GFSI, Safe Quality Foods (SQF), British Retail Consortium (BRC), Food Safety Systems Certification 22000 (FSSC 22000), or International Featured Standard (IFS) food safety audit scheme. Selection of vendors, including laboratories, is included in these audit schemes. Very small companies might maintain, The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 (FSMA) excludes my company. However, if your customers want food safety programs that are FSMA equivalent or a GFSI audit scheme, you will need to develop and maintain such a program or risk losing customers. Laboratory selection is part of this equation. © 2018 AACC International, Inc.