ATCC To Provide Proficiency Testing Programs Through Partnership With LGC

Reliable proficiency testing supports external quality assurance programs in the U.S. food, beverage, animal feed, and pharmaceutical industries

Manassas, VA (PRWEB) - ATCC, the premier global biological materials resource and standards organization, and LGC, a leading global producer and distributor of reference materials and proficiency testing (PT) programs, announce a new agreement to provide high-quality proficiency testing programs supporting the food, beverage, animal feed, and pharmaceutical quality control markets in the United States.

As part of its ongoing mission to acquire, authenticate, preserve, develop, standardize, and distribute biological materials, ATCC has partnered with LGC, an international leader in laboratory services, measurements standards, and reference materials, to supply a broad range of both microbiological and chemical proficiency testing programs. The programs offered through this agreement support a variety of sectors, such as food microbiology, food chemistry, sugar, chocolate, meat and fish, water microbiology, animal feed, and pharmaceuticals. With a number of U.S. laws and regulations, including the Food Safety Modernization Act, requiring food and drug manufacturers to ensure product safety and quality through routine testing, proficiency testing has become a critical component of method validation for U.S. laboratories seeking or maintaining accreditation.

“ATCC is working to provide U.S. laboratories with the resources they need to ensure accurate and reproducible results as part of their quality assurance programs. This extended partnership with LGC allows ATCC to provide food and pharmaceutical quality control laboratories with a broader range of PT programs that are critical to ensure the safety of foods and drugs,” says Willem Folkerts, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at ATCC. “This collaboration leverages proficiency testing samples derived from high quality ATCC materials with a timely and cost effective reporting capability.”

“LGC is committed to supporting the international scientific community by providing our partners and customers with solutions that enable them to deliver the highest quality analytical results. Our expanded relationship with ATCC will support scientists working in the area of food and pharmaceutical safety, by providing PT schemes which give direct and independent feedback on laboratory performance,” stated Euan O’Sullivan, Managing Director of the Standards Division at LGC. “Not only are the schemes accredited to ISO/IEC 17043, but we provide one of the most comprehensive portfolios of schemes, and some of the fastest report turnaround times available in the industry.”

Proficiency testing is a significant component in the laboratory accreditation process as it allows laboratories to monitor the quality of their analytical results as stipulated in ISO IEC 17025. There are a number of benefits to participating in proficiency testing, including monitoring and improving measurements, demonstrating analytical competence, developing and training analysts, and the validation of methods and instruments. Further, regular participation in a proficiency testing program provides an external independent tool for monitoring the effectiveness of methods employed in any laboratory.

For more information on PT programs available through ATCC, visit http://www.atcc.org/PTPrograms.

About ATCC 
ATCC is the premier global biological materials resource and standards organization, maintaining the world’s largest and most diverse collection of human, animal, and plant cell lines, as well as molecular genomic tools, microorganisms, and biological products manufactured under ISO 9001:2008 and ISO IEC 17025:2005 accreditations. ATCC collaborates with and supports the scientific community with industry-standard products, innovative solutions, and stakeholder-proposed, industry-relevant, national consensus standards for biomaterials and related processes. Together, the people of ATCC share in its mission to acquire, authenticate, preserve, develop, standardize, and distribute biological materials and information for the advancement and application of scientific knowledge. ATCC accreditations: ISO 9001:2008 - ISO IEC 13485:2003 - ISO IEC 17025:2005 - ISO Guide 34:2009. Discover more at http://www.atcc.org.

About LGC 
Headquartered in London, UK, LGC is an international leader in the laboratory services, measurement standards, reference materials, genomics, and proficiency testing marketplaces. LGC is a leading global producer and distributor of reference materials and proficiency testing schemes supporting a wide range of sectors, including the food, beverage, environmental, pharmaceutical, forensic, clinical, life sciences and petrochemical markets. LGC is committed to the global provision of high quality products and services essential for accurate analytical measurement and quality control in the laboratory. With four production facilities accredited to ISO Guide 34 for the production of reference materials and two facilities accredited to ISO IEC 17043:2010 for proficiency testing, LGC is able to bring an unparalleled breadth of product and service capability to its customers and partners. LGC accreditations: GMP GLP - ISO 9001:2008 - ISO IEC 17025:2005 - ISO IEC 17043:2010 - ISO Guide 34:2009