Page 43 - FoodFocusThailand No.174 September 2020

STRONG QC & QAQA
STRONG QC &

Pace Keeping

for a Testing Laboratory

in the Automation World

Everywhere we turn at this time, we will
surely find automation tools and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) which is the science of
creating intelligence for various equipment.
Present towards future, it is the technology
that has greatly advanced to social and
economic development in the world.
Automation is designed to support human
work, or to perform any tasks that humans are
unable to do so. The concept of automation
is to make things automatic for an ease of
use, a high precision, and a sharp accuracy
with a less human effort. Although human
beings are very capable, an automation
tool is always more superlative than human.
Its calculating processor is fast, and very
accurate with a very little error compared to
human performance.

Nowadays, automation tools have been brought in inspector to count microorganisms on the test strips faster and more accurately.
daily life. Those areas are such in medical, marketing, Question: In accordance with ISO/IEC 17025: 2017 clause 7.6.3, it is about the
sport, public relation including heavy and light industry, estimation of measurement uncertainty for testing laboratories. This reference method
especially in a food manufacturing and processing with for estimating a microbiological measurement uncertainty in accordance with ISO
high labor intensive. As result of COVID-19 pandemic 19036: 2019. It mentioned that a testing laboratory is also required to estimate a
and a labor shortage, the automation system becomes measurement uncertainty for a testing obtained by the instrument. If the automation
more attractive. It is not only reducing a risk of food tools are used to read microbial colonies, is it necessary to estimate a measurement
production by human error, but also improving a food uncertainty?
safety with a higher standard. For instance, Hazard Answer: There is no need to estimate a measurement uncertainty for the
Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, automation instruments which count the microbial colonies. As ISO 19036: 2019
especially in the area of biosafety is greatly improved. It document in clause 8.1.2 - Combined standard uncertainty based on separate
is common for microbials often contaminating in food technical, matrix, and distributional standard uncertainty, it raised a sample to estimate
products via a human contact, and a poor hygiene within a measurement uncertainty obtained by the instrument. A measurement uncertainty
a production. As a result, the microbial detections of raw (symbolized by u (y)) for the tool is excluding from a counting uncertainty (u Poisson )
c
material, product, and an environment are as equally and an uncertainty of MPN test (u MPN ). Thus, the formula for estimating a measurement
important as a quality and safety control in food uncertainty for a test method obtained by the instrument is as follows:
manufacturing process. The important point is that the mentioned tools in reference of ISO 19036: 2019
For microbiology testing laboratories, the rapid is the tool not counting directly from microbial colonies (No colonies or microbial cells
method test and the use of automation equipment have to count), for instance, an instrument using Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) principle.
been widely conducted. Not only increasing test efficiency, But the tool used to count microbial colonies can count the colonies directly. So, it
the test and its report are also much faster, and more does not comply with ISO 19036: 2019 mentioned. A measurement uncertainty from
accurate. This test can be done in a larger scale compared the use of this instrument will be included in the Technical Uncertainty (u ), which
tech
to a conventional method. a testing laboratory is already required to do so when the test method is based on
There are many types of automation instruments used counting. Therefore, the advantage of the testing laboratory using the automation
in microbiology testing laboratories, for instance, the tool for the microbial counting on the test strips do not only enable a test reading and
instrument of molecular technique to target specific reporting quickly with a high precision and accuracy, it does not require any additional
pathogen or DNA detection, or instruments to count measurement uncertainty as well.
microbials on plates or test strips. This will enable an
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