Iranian Scientists Develop Technology to Detect Fraud in Tallow

“The application of high-tech devices helped us to obtain the 17025 standard in the areas needed by Kermanshah province, specially in the field of tallow, where specialized laboratories were scarce in Kermanshah province,” Shima Alayee, the head of the Biotechnology Research Center of the Islamic Azad University’s Kermanshah branch, told ANA.

She added that in the field of sugar, honey, animal fat, licorice, toxic residue or even tests like ochratoxin are required for export to Europe.

“For instance, ochratoxin testing is required for licorice export. As a result, from the first day, we tried to take steps in line with the needs of Kermanshah province, so that the Biotechnology Research Center of the Islamic Azad University’s Kermanshah branch succeeded in obtaining international standards for 47 data-x-items and also obtained the ISO 17025 standard certificate,” Alayee said.

In a relevant development in 2024, the Plant Biotechnology Research Center of Islamic Azad University’s Kermanshah branch had succeeded in receiving the license of the ISO 17025 laboratory standard in the field of agriculture and food industry.

“The ISO 17025 license is the most specialized standard in the world, which is issued in Iran under the supervision of the National Accreditation Center of Iran (NACI), and the process of obtaining this license is highly time-consuming and difficult. After a one-year process and numerous assessments by the National Center of Iran's Qualification Verification Organization, Islamic Azad University’s Kermanshah branch succeeded in obtaining the final approval to receive the most specialized international and national standard ISO 17025,” Shima Alayee, the head of the Plant Biotechnology Research Center of Islamic Azad University’s Kermanshah branch, told ANA.

Noting that the ISO 17025 is one of the most specialized standards in the world which is used in different laboratories, she said, “Usually, the certificate and license is issued by the higher authorities, and in Iran, the main and official authority which issues this certificate is the National Accreditation Center of Iran (NACI) which operates under the supervision of the National Standards Organization of Iran.”

“This standard is a criterion for measuring the quality of a laboratory and any laboratory that has gained this certificate can be trusted in terms of the accuracy and precision of the laboratory results,” Alayee said.

ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is an international standard specifying requirements for quality and competence in testing and calibration laboratories. The standard requires that such labs prioritise excellent quality practices and develop a reliable quality management system to establish and demonstrate their competence.

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