Miller Magazine Issue: 156 December 2022

82 MILLER / DECEMBER 2022 The consequences of deviation in the analytical results of a laboratory are numerous and can lead to the emergence of crises within the flour milling industries that can impact consumer health and jeopardize the industries’ economy. Proficiency Testing Schemes (PTS) are crucial for detecting analytical derivatives in laboratories performances, hence is helping with favoring a corrective measure over another. Quality control for flour milling Quality control laboratories are key actors of flour mill- ing industries. Flour, as a non-perishable food is one of the common pantry staples and the most basic food ingredient of a consumer. And even if it is technically imperishable, it requires monitoring and controls during the whole process of the production. According to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in July 2019, multiple brands and types of flour on the market may be contaminated with Escherichia coli. All suspected products were recalled because of the risks on the consumer’s life. Thus, when many processed foods as pasta, bread, baked goods are prepared with contaminated flour, the contamination chain can be quickly enlarged. This is why access to safe flour-based products is essential to sustaining human life. As a primary feed, producers and laboratories must pursue specific regulations regarding flour production. In this framework, the need of laboratories for efficient quality control of analysis leads them to participate in Pro- ficiency Testing Schemes (PTS) which helps them prevent analytical deviations in performance monitoring; this solu- tion offers tremendous potential to improve the safety and the quality of flour. The evaluation of the reliability of the methods used along in PTS are important elements of lab- oratory quality assurance. PTS are also the opportunity for laboratories to compare their analytical results with other laboratories; also, the validation of the methods used allow laboratories to acquire reliable, repeatable, and accurate results when using a specific method. Quality control tools use to verify specific characteristics in flour such as gluten index, moisture content, protein con- tent, falling number etc. allow the producers to know more about the quality of their flour. That is why continually evaluating laboratory performance through participation in proficiency testing remains an ef- fective means of control for improving reliability of results in order to enhance health quality in food. By using PTS as an independent quality control tool, analytical laboratories can verify their testing process to comply with accreditation bod- ies according to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. The internal and external quality controls implemented in the laboratories are essential to ensure the validity of the results, the equip- ment calibration or for development and method validation; PTS perfectly meet these objectives as external quality con- trols. The attendance in proficiency testing programs is one standards of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard requirements in order to provide analytical results with reliability. DEFINITION OF A PTS According to ISO/IEC 17043, a PTS is defined as the eval- uation of a laboratory’s testing by means of performance, using interlaboratory comparisons. These are used to mon- itoring the continuity of laboratory performance. ARTICLE