UK National Reference Laboratory for food microbiology (2024)

FAQs

UK National Reference Laboratory for food microbiology? ›

The UK's NRL for food microbiology is responsible for official controls on specific areas of food microbiology: Listeria monocytogenes. coagulase positive staphylococci. Escherichia coli (including STEC )

In the UK, these are the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). LGC is the UK National Reference laboratory for the following areas: Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feed. Added water in poultry.

The reference laboratories house collections of pathogens and viruses used to diagnose, detect, identify and characterise infectious bacterial agents and environmental hazards, which may threaten public health.

A national reference laboratory is required to implement quality assurance and, in many cases, is the main facility where testing for resistance to first and second-line drugs is done. The NRL also interacts with the Supranational Reference Laboratory Network (SNRL).

A food microbiology laboratory is where the pathogens and spoilage organisms in food, food components, and water are tested and identified. Researchers can use quick approaches to identify unidentified microorganisms, classify them to species level, and place food pathogens.

“Referring laboratory” is defined as the laboratory that refers a specimen to another laboratory for testing. “Reference laboratory” is defined as the laboratory that receives a specimen from another laboratory and that performs one or more tests on such specimen.

With over $3 billion in annual revenues, Quest is the nation's largest reference lab network.

Microbiology Research Laboratory Services

Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) is a set of services and principles intended to assure the quality and integrity of non-clinical laboratory studies that support research or marketing permits for products regulated by government agencies.

What are the three nationally recognized testing laboratories? ›

DOE Office of Science National Laboratories

Each of the 17 DOE National Laboratories is stewarded by a program office in the Department.

The reference laboratory performs or contributes to surveillance activities, or has established channels of communication with the national surveillance body to regularly report incidence data and provide an 'alert function' for unusual occurrences.

Industrial microbiology — This is the study of microorganisms employed in the industrial sector, especially in the production and fermentation of various products. Food microbiology — This is the study of microorganisms used in food production or causes food spoilage.

It starts by describing the different groups of microorganisms associated with food, such as molds, yeasts, and bacteria.

Food microbiology focuses on the general biology of the microorganisms that are found in foods including: their growth characteristics, identification, and pathogenesis. Specifically, areas of interest which concern food microbiology are food poisoning, food spoilage, food preservation, and food legislation.

Large hospital laboratories sometimes act as reference laboratories within their hospital network. Most often, however, reference laboratories are independent companies. Examples include LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, and ARUP.

A reference range is a set of numbers that are the high and low ends of the range of results that's considered to be normal. The ranges are based on the test results from large groups of healthy people. A test may have different reference ranges for different groups of people.

Full explanation: The reference standard is the test, combination of tests, or procedure that is considered the best available method of categorising participants in a study of diagnostic test accuracy as having or not having a target condition.

In-house labs, like those at Specialty Urgent Care, enhance the patient experience by offering on-the-spot testing, reducing wait times, and streamlining the diagnostic process. Reference labs complement these services by providing extensive testing capabilities, particularly for less common or more complex tests.