The Measure of Confidence

Ensuring that food passes rigorous safety standards regardless of where it is grown, raised or processed is vital for food safety. The Safe Quality Food (SQF) standard, which is part of the Global Food Safety Initiative, plays an important role in this. Having been established for many years, SQF is one of the world’s leading food safety and quality standards and has recently become a requirement for food suppliers to many major retailers.

To help meet the SQF standard, laboratories charged with testing the quality of products must have quality systems in place to ensure accurate and unalterable results.

Agilent Technologies, the major supplier of analytical equipment for the testing laboratory, is helping food testing laboratories to meet this essential requirement with its OpenLAB ECM, which helps laboratories move to an electronic data management system. This system can securely manage analytical results and automate quality procedures to ensure that the data being produced is accurate, reproducible and unaltered.

OpenLAB ECM provides secure, centralized storage of laboratory data and results. This approach protects them from alteration but enables them to be searchable, making audits and investigations much easier. OpenLAB ECM can easily make documents and procedures accessible through the Web and can automate the review and approval process. While the paper-based systems of the past can be made to meet the quality standards, an electronic system can ensure quality procedures are followed and make the certification process much easier.

How It Works

Four simple steps with no library prep (Figure 1):

1. Digest sample DNA A DNA sample is fragmented using restriction enzymes, and denatured.

2. Hybridize probes The probe library is added and hybridized to the targeted fragments. Each probeis an oligonucleotide designed to hybridize to both ends of a targeted DNA restric tion fragment, thereby guiding the targeted fragments to form circular DNA molecules. The probe also contains a method-specific sequencing motif that is incorporated during cir cularization. In addition, a sample barcode sequence is incorporated in this step.

3. Purify and ligate targets The HaloPlex probes are biotinylated and the targeted fragments can therefore be retrieved with magnetic streptavidin beads. The circular molecules are then closed by ligation, a very precise reaction that ensures that only perfectly hybridized fragments are circularized.

4. Amplify targeted fragments with PCR Only circular DNA targets are amplified, providing an enriched and barcoded amplification product that is ready for sequencing.

HaloPlex Delivers Superior and Uniform Coverage

Figure 1. HaloPlex workflow.

Figure 2. HaloPlex delivers high specificity, uniformity, and sequencing coverage for any design size, and across all target regions. (A) Enrichment of all exons within the CFTR gene, for 5 different samples. (B) Contiguous and highly repetitive region (~15kb) enriched with HaloPlex.

A. B.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. This information is subject to change without notice.

© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2012Published in the USA, April 5, 2012

5990-9855EN

www.agilent.com/genomics/ngs

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OpenLAB Enterprise Content Manager

OpenLAB ECM can help you meet Food Safety guidelines

System Benefits• Secure storage for master methods and data

• Audit trail of changes to data and methods

• Keeps old versions of data for auditing or investigations

• Ensures the correct methods are used while keeping the relationship of data/methods/results

• SOP storage and control

• Automates tedious processes such as product inspection or results review/approval with electronic signature

• Centralizes and protects ALL lab data, regardless of vendor

• Notification on test completion with routing based on result (Pass/Fail)

• Integrated into the workflow of Agilent analytical software for ease of use

ASSESS FOOD QUALITY AND POINT OF ORIGIN

Agilent Food Profiling Solutions

www.agilent.com/chem/openlabecmThis information is subject to change without notice © Agilent Technologies, Inc., 2012 Published in the USA, September 6, 2012 5991-1508EN