APA News
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FSA On Tour
Members of the FSA’s Scientific Sampling and Laboratory Policy Team with Public Analysts Bharathi Reddy and Duncan Campbell
Members of the Scientific Sampling and Laboratory Policy (SSLP) team at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently visited Lancashire County Scientific Services to tour the laboratories and gain an insight in to the work that they do which includes a range of environmental, consumer protection analysis and microbiology as well as Official Laboratory (OL) work on food and animal feed. Commenting on the visit SSLP Team Leader David Franklin said “We welcomed the opportunity to visit Lancashire County Scientific Services and see first-hand how they are protecting public health on a day-to-day basis. Public Analysts Laboratories perform a vital role in undertaking analytical testing to protect consumer health, across food and feed and wider consumer products.”
Public Analyst Bharathi Reddy who led the tour said “The visit gave our colleagues from the FSA a glimpse of our history, see the facilities and gain some insight into the infrastructure of quality assurance and software such as the Laboratory Information Management System which underpins our work.”
APA Honorary Secretary Dr Duncan Campbell said “The work that we do is largely unseen and it is difficult for anyone not actually involved in official control analysis to be aware of the complexity of the operation and the financial pressures that all OLs face. With the Agency’s Board recently approving proposals for a more Resilient Lab System in England and Wales this visit, which was a first for the FSA staff involved, was a very timely one.”
