Hello everyone,
I would be grateful if you could give me your opinion about the suitability of a "certificate of conformance" instead of a calibration certificate for thermometers (IR in this specific case, but not only) that are brand new, just purchased, and to be used at receiving of frozen meat for surface temperature check for food safety and accept/reject purposes.
I noticed it's a common (and disappointing) practice of manufacturers of thermometers to sell it without calibration certificate, just with a "certificate of conformance".
If you want the calibration certificate, you have to pay an extra 50-100 dollars usually.
In my opinion, this is not fair. I understand somebody has to pay for a certificate if to be calibrated is an existing/old product. But if you're buying a brand new product, it should be sold fit and ready to be used at least for its intended main purpose.
In the case of a thermometer, its main purpose is to measure temperatures, which makes a non-accurate thermometer simply useless. So, when it's new, it should give accurate results and the manufacturer should sell it with proof that it is accurate, that is a certificate.
It doesn't make sense to ask more money for a new product. It's as if we buy a new car, but it's not completely sure that its brakes or axes are safe, so, right after leaving the car dealer, we have to go somewhere and pay to have it checked and for a safety certificate! A safety certificate is understandable for a used car, but a new one should imply safety already, and at the highest level actually. I understand if I also want my brand new car certified as suitable to resist under water, but at least the safety of its main purposes (drive, brake, etc.) should be implied in a new product.
Besides my above controversy, here are the questions I'd like to submit to your experience:
• For food safety, HACCP, FSMA, and SQF level 2 and audit purposes, is a new IR thermometer (emissivity adjustable at need) with just a "Certificate of Conformance" acceptable, or does it still need to be also calibrated and provided with a calibration certificate?
• For the purposes of the point above, is a 2-points calibration certificate also acceptable, or only 3-point ones?
• Do you agree with my polemic written above?
Thanks so much.