Green Economy Journal Issue 48

AGRI-FOOD
QUALITY TESTING FOR THE
AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY:
AN IMPORTANT LINK IN THE VALUE CHAIN
Informed business, economic and social decisions in the food and feed value are based
on information on the quality of the commodities being used as raw materials and that
of the final products. The quality can only be assessed when accurate measurements are
available that also ensure food safety, and finally support trade.
BY WIANA LOUW, SAGL*
The Southern African Grain Laboratory (SAGL) NPC, established
in 1997, has a Crop Quality and a Crop Protection division. Both
divisions are accredited under the international ISO/IEC 17025
standard and the crop protection division also complies with the OECD
Principles of Good Laboratory Practice (OECD GLP).
To confidently provide accurate, reliable, and comparable measurement
results, testing laboratories can implement a range of measures including,
but not limited to compliance with quality standards such as ISO/IEC
17025 for testing laboratories.
Globally, there is an increased emphasis on food security and food
safety with growing population numbers putting pressure on natural
resources to provide enough safe food and feed. As a result, the spotlight
also moved to reliable testing results as an integral part of improved
production, management, and early warning systems.
The South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) conducts
surveillance audits at regular intervals to confirm the laboratory’s
compliance and during these assessments, new methods and technical
signatories are also evaluated to be added to the scope of accreditation.
Since 1999, the SAGL complies with this international standard
and received accreditation from SANAS. The SAGL uses measurement
standards or reference materials as prescribed in the standard to confirm
technical competence and to ensure international comparability and
demonstrates continued method performance through participation in
relevant proficiency testing schemes and the use of appropriate quality
control materials.
The Crop Quality Division performs national crop quality surveys
on wheat, maize, soybeans, sunflower and grain sorghum and offers
specialised analyses on food, feed and related products. Results of these
surveys can, for example, be used when recommendations need to be
made with regards to changes to regulations, such as grading regulations.
Globally, there is an increased
emphasis on food security and
food safety with growing population
numbers putting pressure on natural
resources to provide enough safe
food and feed.
It can also be used when value chain studies, with the purpose of
implementing improvements, are conducted.
The division’s scope includes grading of grains and oilseeds, nutritional
analyses, dough quality and baking tests on wheat flour, multi-mycotoxin
analysis (using LC-MS/MS), vitamin and mineral analysis and amino
acid analyses. The division also offers research support to industry for
product and method development, training courses covering theoretical
and practical laboratory training and proficiency schemes to local and
international participants. The grain and oilseed industry use reliable
quality data on agricultural commodities when marketing these products
locally, but even more importantly, to prospect customers in the rest of
the world.
Customers submit samples to the laboratory to support their internal
quality control processes and make use of calibration samples prepared at
the SAGL to evaluate the accuracy of their equipment and the competency
of their employees. They also participate in the proficiency schemes
offered by the SAGL.
The Crop Protection division analyses agricultural formulations and
technical material (5-batches) for registration and conduct quality control
analyses of plant protection products according to international standards.
The concentrations of the active ingredients and impurities are determined
using either Gas Chromatography (FID)/(MSD) or High-Performance Liquid
Chromatography (DAD). Other tests include water content, particle size
using laser diffraction, density, viscosity, pH and flash point.
An important goal of the SAGL is to continuously improve the
quality of the testing while increasing the sample throughput with the
implementation of new technology, training of the laboratory staff and
improved quality systems. We conduct investigative and research studies
to find solutions or suggest alternatives to current processes.
To access quality data on soybeans, sunflower, grain sorghum, wheat,
and maize, please visit the website or contact the SAGL where our friendly
staff will gladly assist you.
www.sagl.co.za
The Southern African Grain Laboratory NPC is an
independent ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory, acting
as reference Laboratory for the South African Grain
Industry.
The Crop Quality Division focusses on grain and oilseed
quality analysis:
• Grading & Milling
• Nutritional analyses
• Rheology & Baking
• Vitamins, Minerals & Amino Acids
• Mycotoxins
The SAGL also have a Crop Protection Division with ISO/
IEC 17025 accreditation and OECD GLP Compliance for
analyses on plant protection products:
• 5-batch testing
• shelf-life testing
• treated seed
Grain Building – Agri-Hub Office Park
477 Witherite Street
The Willows
0040
Tel: +27 (0) 12 807 4019
E-mail: info@sagl.co.za
Celebrating 25 Years of
Excellence
*Wiana Louw is general manager at Southern African Grain Laboratory
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