Laboratory competence evaluation through proficiency testing - mycotoxins in food

Proficiency testing in the food microbiology laboratory.

Laboratories offering a quality service for the microbiological examination of food must implement a quality assurance system. An effective system should, in addition to daily quality control of procedures, consumables, and equipment, include external laboratory accreditation to a recognised standard, the use of validated test methods, and participation in an external quality assessment (profic...

Mycotoxins in Food

The term mycotoxin was used for the first time in 1961 in the aftermath of a veterinary crisis in England, during which thousands of animals died. The disease was linked to a peanut meal, incorporated in the diet, contaminated with a toxin produced by the filamentous fungus Aspergillus flavus (Bennet & Klich, 2003; Richard, 2007). In general, mycotoxins are low-molecular-weight compounds that a...

10 Mycotoxins in Food

Proficiency testing, matrix effects, and method evaluation.

Clinical laboratory performance on proficiency testing samples--United States, 1994.

Regulation of laboratory testing for human health is mandated by law in the United States; the most recently enacted regulatory law is the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). In accordance with this law, as of August 1995 a total of 154,721 laboratories had registered with the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which is responsible for implementing the CLIA regu...