BRCGS Issue 9 - Uncertainty Measurement

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum.

Please could I have some advice on part of the following section of the new Issue 9 BRCGS standard for Food. 

"5.6.2 Where applicable, the measurement uncertainty associated with laboratory test results shall

I interpret  this to mean where a product is subject to set customer or regulatory limits then the uncertainty of the test method needs to be taken into account when reviewing results and setting acceptable tolerances. eg if Legal limit is 10 but test accuracy is +/- 1 then a result of 9 should be a failure....But I could be entirely on the wrong track.  :ejut:

Hi Peter,

:welcome:

Welcome to the IFSQN forums.

Historic quality control data can be used to calculate the uncertainty of each Laboratory test method with a 95% confidence of a result being within +/- x amount of the result.

Measurement uncertainty is important when assessing whether a test result is within legal or safety limits as the uncertainty of the result could take the result outside of acceptable limits.

Appearance and organoleptic are likely to be more subjective and cross-checked against “a standard”.

The example given in the previous post is a bit unclear, I would explain as follows:

If the legal limit is a minimum of 10 with the uncertainty +/- 1 then the minimum reading should be 11.

If the legal limit is a maximum of 10 with the uncertainty +/- 1 then the maximum reading should be 9.

Kind regards,

Tony