High-quality and safe feed is crucial for an optimal nutrition of the animals. Feed is therefore also a particularly important part of the food value chain. The reliable work of the laboratories, which analyse feed for possible undesirable substances, is a decisive building block. In the QS Laboratory Performance Assessment, laboratories active in the QS feed monitoring, demonstrate the quality of their analyses. The results of this year's Laboratory Performance Assessment have been evaluated: the current performance status is very good and proves the reliability of the QS laboratories.
With the QS Laboratory Performance Assessment, QS puts the analytical quality of QS-approved laboratories to the test once a year. It enables laboratories to identify problems and sources of error and thus continuously improve the quality of analyses. The pleasing result of the current Laboratory Performance Assessment in feed monitoring once again underlines the competence of the QS-approved laboratories in feed monitoring.
Uniform sample material ensures comparability of test results
This year's performance assessment involved 49 laboratories from seven different countries (Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovakia). The laboratories did not know the parameter to be tested, the sample material or the exact date of dispatch. The task was to analyse two different samples for the four heavy metals arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury. As first sample material the laboratories received a complete feed for pigs, the second sample was a mineral feed.
Overview of the results
Fortunately, all 49 participating laboratories, including two laboratories in the recognition process, have successfully passed the Laboratory Performance Assessment. 46 of the 49 laboratories (94 %) even absolutely error-free. Three laboratories had one quantification error each, but one quantification error per sample is allowed to pass the test.
Systematic structure of the QS feed monitoring system
The QS feed monitoring system continuously controls compliance with limit and guideline values for undesirable substances such as heavy metals, dioxins, pesticides and mycotoxins. Specific control plans, which are risk-oriented, specify the sample size and the analysis spectrum. The investigations are systematically distributed over the entire calendar year. All sample data and analysis results are available in the QS database.
