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LIMS helps in ensuring brand reputation and compliance
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Friday, 16 August, 2013, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Colin Thurston
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fiogf49gjkf0d Though food and beverage recalls may be getting the biggest headlines, in reality, the cost of recalling a product pales in comparison to a manufacturer’s worst nightmare: brand damage – and potentially losing the trust of consumers – regardless of the cause.
Whether it’s a can of soda or a jar of jam, any food product not only needs to be safe for consumption based on strict regulatory guidelines but also taste exactly the same every single time. A laboratory information management system (LIMS) helps food producers ensure their brands’ reputation and compliance by managing quality assurance data through every step of the food production process. Housing and tracking this enormous quantity of data is critical to ensuring that every ingredient in a particular food product meets quality expectations and complies with regulations – and a LIMS allows food manufacturers to act quickly if anything goes wrong.
The ultimate price for food manufacturers is not only the impact on shareholders and potential loss of revenue due to recalls but, perhaps more importantly, the loss of the buying public’s trust – and consumers are notorious for having long memories. In addition, food contamination of any type can expose a food producer to potential litigation and the expenses associated with addressing allegations.
Traceability, the key to brand security
Traceability is a critical factor in determining the source of any out-of-specification process or material, allowing the producer or manufacturer to stop production at the source of contamination. This ability to determine the source of contamination and to pinpoint all affected batches allows the producer to minimize the probability of delivering a contaminated product to market, and reduces the risk – and cost – of product recall due to food borne illness.
A LIMS plays a critical role in how traceability is integrated into the food production process. In order to ensure the highest product quality, food producers must perform precise product testing at all stages of food production, processing and distribution. Each step in the production of a particular food or beverage is associated with certain challenges that must be addressed or standards that must be met.
LIMS play a critical role in the work flow of food producers, ensuring that analytical data from all parts of the delivery chain are captured and analysed. A LIMS can improve the security of data entry at sample intake for example, and because the data is captured electronically it can easily be transmitted to third parties and regulatory agencies.
Any time there’s a change in location, packaging or processing, samples must be taken, and a LIMS tracks this data and manages the references between the test and the final shipped product. Tests can include ingredient identification analysis, microbiology tests, foreign body testing, pesticide analysis and so on.
Food producers must be able to determine where hazards, such as contaminants, could be introduced within their process. For example, this could include control points where the raw ingredients are stored before being processed for the canning line.
Once safety controls are developed and implemented to mitigate the risk of contamination, the LIMS can monitor these control points with samples taken, historical data, trends, corrective remedies and so on. The LIMS collates all the data and helps produce the necessary reports and documentation for a complete audit trail during regulatory inspections. A LIMS helps a food producer meet the internal quality standards and accreditation requirements for food exports to countries including the U.S.
LIMS and batch relationships
Sophisticated LIMS solutions are also designed to efficiently manage batch relationships between raw materials, processed materials and packaged goods, enabling analysts to identify which batches are affected by any contamination and automatically suspend release of a product during investigation.
LIMS are designed to manage and control the quality assurance process, organizing and storing analytical data and facilitating the conversion of data to usable information. This process is fully automated, ensuring that any samples that fall outside acceptable limits are highlighted, prompting immediate investigation before product has been released to consumers.
Food analysis techniques produce large quantities of different types of data. LIMS are used to automatically gather, store, manage and report on these data, including sample preparation data, instrument-generated data, standards, reagents and media, training records for lab personnel, reference data for users and management and metric reports.
Notes can be used to attach standard operating procedure (SOP) documents to instruments and operators within the LIMS, while links to external repositories and websites can also be configured to allow users to review supporting information. Certificates are stored within the LIMS for traceability while templates are used to generate consistent formats of analytical reports, or to maintain compliance with regulatory reporting requirements.
Food samples used for safety testing are often time- and condition-sensitive, requiring fast turnaround or storage in suitable conditions. LIMS are capable of identifying each sample, uniquely generating labels, bar codes and hazard data and storing meta data and sample life-cycle transactions. Freeze thaw cycles and preparation steps are logged, sample inventory is maintained and work for laboratory staff is prioritised.
Overall, the use of LIMS in the food safety work flow ensures that samples are handled correctly and processed within allowed time-frames. Finally, each transaction in this process is fully audited, ensuring full traceability of tests and results in the event of a regulatory audit or product recall.
Because automating the collection and analysis of laboratory data is a primary function of LIMS, the LIMS helps laboratory analysts avoid any transcription errors associated with conventional manual data handling such as the use of spreadsheets, paper notebooks or collation of data from multiple instruments.
The LIMS is also capable of tracking instrument status, identifying any scheduling requirements for calibration and/or service and reporting on the specific parts needing replacement. FDA regulation indicates that equipment must be maintained to a high standard. Additionally, some equipment must be set to a calibration percentage and needs to be frequently examined to ensure this does not falter.
A reliable and consistent plan for the maintenance and calibration of equipment is therefore essential within laboratories, and a LIMS solution can provide this. The schedule of a laboratory is managed automatically and regularly by LIMS, and calibration of particular instruments on specific timetables can be included.
Conclusion
Food recalls are expensive in terms of financial costs that directly impact the bottom line, reduced shareholder confidence and ultimately brand reputation among consumers.
The ability to trace the raw materials and ingredients used at any point in the food production process and distribution chain is critical to ensuring product quality and regulatory compliance, and also to minimize the costs of any recall as far as possible.
Batch traceability can be easily and effectively achieved using a proficient LIMS solution, since a LIMS controls the sample chain of custody, automates data collection from instruments and analysers, manages data by exception and facilitates certification. The LIMS collects results directly from instruments and determines whether they are within acceptable limits, making it the ideal tool for managing and tracking the required quality data for food producers.
(The author is Director of Product Strategy, Process Industries, Thermo Fisher Scientific )
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