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Description of the Inter‐laboratory Comparison Programme in the New Zealand dairy industry
Author(s) -
DYKES M. J.,
LEONG R. C.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
international journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.831
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1365-2621
pISSN - 0950-5423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2621.1985.tb01961.x
Subject(s) - christian ministry , certification , quality assurance , agriculture , agency (philosophy) , engineering , operations management , agricultural science , business , geography , environmental science , political science , philosophy , external quality assessment , archaeology , epistemology , law
Summary. The Inter‐laboratory Comparison Programme (ILCP) is a quality assurance system administered by the Dairy Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to monitor the performance of agency certified laboratories (ACLs). The programme works on a monthly basis during the milk producing season and is co‐ordinated from the National Dairy Laboratory (NDL). Samples are despatched to Regional Dairy Labora‐tories (RDL) and to the ACLs 2 weeks later. The RDL results are used to calculate an official mean. The ACL results are sent to the RDL where they are scrutinized immediately; hence, a rapid feedback on the ACL performance is possible. The NDL despatches a detailed statistical evaluation of results of ACLs and RDLs. The pro‐gramme has increased from seven products in 1977 to eleven in 1984. Microbiological and chemical analyses are performed. A bacterial identification scheme to monitor E. coli and S. aureus was included in 1982. A scoring system (0 poor‐10 good) which includes a weighting for specific tests and which is measured against an ‘official’ score has been introduced into a report which is distributed to all participants. The data generated by the programme are used by both ACLs and RDLs to check their analytical performance and quality control. Data are used by Dairy Division, as a national compilation of results issued by it which serves to highlight problem analyses, season trends and analytical limits.