1. Lessons Learned – The perspective of a “Veteran” Accredited Food Laboratory New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets Dan Rice Director – New York State Food Laboratory

2. The new “New York State Food Laboratory”

3. Major Testing Programs: Food and Dairy Microbiology Food and Dairy Chemistry Pesticide residues including the USDA Pesticide Data Program (PDP) Animal feed and pet food including the FDA BSE Feed Safety program Fertilizer

4. Pathogens Currently Tested For: E. coli O157:H7 and other STEC Salmonella enterica Listeria monocytogenes Shigella spp. Vibrio spp. Campylobacter jejuni and coli Bacillus spp. Staphylococcus aureus and associated enterotoxin

5. Chemical Hazards: Antibiotic, pesticide and other chemical residues in food and water Poison/toxin assays Food allergen testing Toxic elements Non-permitted food coloring Sulfites and other preservatives Histamine content of seafood Filth and foreign material

6. Perform genetic “fingerprinting” of pathogens - participate in PulseNet, an international program for tracking foodborne pathogens PFGE strain typing through PulseNet

7. Other programs: Participate in both FERN Microbiology and Chemistry programs Newly funded FDA RRT state Mentoring 3 laboratories as part of FDA accreditation cooperative agreement program

8. Lab staff matrix: Lab Director Assistant Director QA Manager - QA Officer for Microbiology - QA Officer for Chemistry

9. Lab staff matrix: Section Managers Training Coordinator RRT Coordinator Analytical/technical staff Support Staff Student Interns

10. The Path to Accreditation: Began the quest in earnest for accreditation to the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 standard in 2006 Initial incentive - pursuit of accreditation was a requirement for continued funding by USDA for the PDP

11. The Path to Accreditation: Decided early on that all sections of the laboratory would be brought in line with the ISO/IEC 17025:2005 standard Received accreditation in 2008 Accredited to both Chemical and Biological testing

12. Post-Accreditation: Has been a transformative experience for our lab Vastly improved laboratory performance and quality of work Just underwent our second biennial A2LA assessment

13. Key Tools to Use for Continued Improvement: Management Review Corrective Action Reports aka “CARS” Preventive Action Reports aka “PARS” Auditing

14. Issues That Became Prominent After Accreditation: Document control Tracking historical revisions and records Sufficient numbers of trained internal auditors Training new staff on quality systems, accreditation Sustainability

15. Expanding and Enhancing Impact of Accreditation: Bringing new methods and/or technologies in scope Often easier to bring a new method within scope than an existing method Finding Suitable PT’s

16. Simple words of advice: Don’t over-think Keep it simple! Develop and use a network of peers for help and advice

17. Questions? Spring view from Kamiak Butte, Whitman County WA