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2.2. Laboratory activities

In 2004, the CAFIA conducted physical, chemical, microbiological, molecular-biochemical, and sensory analyses of agricultural and food products mainly in its own laboratories.

In case of special determinations, e.g. demonstration of exogenous water in half-fermented wines, inspection of the safety and adulteration of honey, inspection of irradiated foodstuffs, monitoring of radioactive contamination in foodstuffs intended for direct consumption on the territory of the Czech Republic, inspection of one-variety fruit juices, a co-operation with external laboratories in the CR and abroad was established.

The co-operation included the following Czech laboratories: Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, State Veterinary Institute in Jihlava, Potato Research Institute in Havlíčkův Brod, and Bee Research Institute in Důl u Libčic nad Vltavou.

As to the foreign laboratories, the co-operation was established with, for example, the Austrian laboratory of the research centre Seiberdorf Research in Vienna, the German laboratory of the Institut für Honig-Analytik in Bremen, WEJ/Eurofins laboratory in Hamburg and with the French laboratory Eurofins in Nantes.

In September 2004, the CAFIA and the State Office for Nuclear Safety (SONS) concluded a Treaty on the functioning of the bodies of the radiation monitoring network. Within the Treaty, the CAFIA monitored the level of radioactive contamination in samples of selected commodities already in the second half of the year. Monitoring of radioactive contamination will continue in full extent in the following years.

In 2004, an exceptional supervision by the Czech Accreditation Institute was carried out in testing laboratories in Prague, Brno and Tábor, within the framework of which newly implemented testing method were accredited according to the CSN EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard requirements. In the Prague laboratory 46 methods were accredited, 9 methods, in Brno and 3 methods in Tábor. In the laboratory in Hradec Králové a re-accreditation was carried out due to the expiry of the Certificate and 3 new testing methods were accredited. Newly implemented and accredited determination methods included for example determination of the Sudan dyes in chilli products, determination of the meat content in meat products, determination of the fruit or vegetable content in fruit or vegetable products, determination of the cocoa content in cocoa products, determination of the uniformity of the varieties of potatoes by polyacrylamide electrophoresis and others.

Nowadays, the CAFIA microbiological laboratory in Tábor has 30 methods accredited and microbiological laboratory in Hradec Králové has 38 methods accredited. As of November 2004, the CAFIA laboratory in Prague holds the Certification of accreditation, applying to 559 physical, chemical, microbiological and sensory testing methods. The CAFIA laboratory in Brno obtained the Certification of accreditation for 314 physical, chemical, microbiological, molecular-biochemical and sensory testing methods.

As in previous years, the CAFIA organised inter-laboratory comparison tests (the ILPT system). In 2004, the following six rounds of comparison tests were conducted with the participation of 66 laboratories:

1. Determination of additives in wine; 40 laboratories participated in the test;
2. Classic methods of wine testing; 36 laboratories participated in the test;
3. Determination of substances important for nutrition; 8 laboratories participated in the test;
4. Determination of inorganic elements of cadmium, lead and mercury in cocoa; 17 laboratories participated in the test;
5. Determination of urethane and methanol in fruit liquor; 9 laboratories participated in the test;
6. Quantitative determination of coliform bacteria at 37°C, Escherichia coli, coagulase-positive staphylococcus and Staphylococcus aureus in soya granulation product.

The CAFIA laboratories regularly participate in international comparison tests for testing the qualification of chemical and microbiological laboratories in accordance with the requirements of the CSN EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard.

In 2004, the CAFIA physical-chemical laboratories took part in 23 tests in the FAPAS system (The Food Analysis Performance Assessment Scheme) organised by the Central Science Laboratory (Great Britain), and in 4 tests in the CHEK system (Chemical and Quality Assurance) organised by the Inspectorate for Health Protection and Veterinary Public Health (the Netherlands). The molecular-biochemical laboratory of the CAFIA inspectorate in Brno participated in one test in the GeMMA system (Genetically Modified Material Analysis Scheme) organised by the Central Science Laboratory (Great Britain).

The microbiological laboratories of the CAFIA inspectorates in Prague, Brno, Hradec Králové and in Tábor participated in 4 tests in the FEPAS system (The Food Evaluation Performance Assessment Scheme) organised by the Central Science Laboratory (Great Britain), 9 NFA tests organised by the National Food Administration (Sweden), and in 2 tests in the CHEK system (Chemical and Quality Assurance, the Netherlands).