SQF Level 2 Internal Laboratory

Hello from Wisconsin!

I work for a small cheese company in Wisconsin who is pursuing SQF level 2 certification.  We had our prelim audit in November 2015, our plant audit is scheduled for June 2016.  Since the prelim audit, the owner has decided to purchase some very fancy lab equipment and hire a lab tech to test our finished product internally for analyticals and micros, including coliforms, E. Coli, Listeria sp., and Salmonella.  We use 3M's MDS method for testing pathogens, petrifilms for coliform and E. Coli.

My question is, how do I account for this in our HACCP plan?  Would our lab require its own HACCP plan?  Or would I account for only the increased risk associated with pathogenic testing protocol to our product in our current HACCP plan?

I was planning on adding prevention measures to account for isolation of the laboratory and staff (separate enclosed room, color coded staff uniforms for lab only), and a CCP for our autoclave disposal procedure.

Would anyone care to comment or provide some guidance?

Thank you very much in advance.

Bob

Based on my SQF knowledge the lab need to be separate from the process area and restricted to authorized personnel  .

11.8.1.1 On site laboratories shall be located separate from any food processing or handling activity (m) and designed to limit access only to authorized personnel.