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Food Lab Proficiency Testing from IFM Quality Services

Audit your lab independently to protect your reputation, reduce the risk of recalls, and sleep easier.


Demonstrate your lab's testing capabilities with proficiency testing

Lab proficiency testing (PT) conducted on a regular basis provides lab managers with realistic information about their lab's performance. IFM Quality Services are our own internal lab proficiency testing providers, offering a systematic method to lab proficiency testing that ensures consistency over time and among analysts.

In conformity with ISO/IEC (Cert. 3189-02), IFM provides real materials in concentrations and formats that closely resemble the types of samples that customers typically submit. They supply many samples since clients have requested various analyses. Some are positive and some are negative for each of the objectives, implying that analysts cannot give special treatment to any specific sample. This helps to provide an accurate depiction of the laboratory's daily performance.

IFM maintains 3 key accreditations with the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).

With these accreditations, IFM fully understands the quality criteria that testing facilities must meet. As a result, IFM can create and provide the best available proficiency testing programs and reference materials. The scope of IFM's Proficiency Testing Provider and Reference Material Producer accreditations includes food, water, medicines, environmental, electrical products, medical, and veterinary tests.

Currently available lab proficiency testing programs

Click the links below to see all available programs, sample prep, available tests, as well as enroll by dates and dispatch dates to plan out your proficiency testing for the year.

Interested planning your proficiency testing schedule for future years? Contact your Weber Scientific sales representative and ask for a copy of the IFM Perpetual Schedule to see all programs planned through 2033.




Food Pathogens

 Programs Available:
  • Breakfast foods
  • Desserts
  • Starches
  • Traditional foods
  • Festive foods
Tests for:
  • Colstridum perfringens
  • Clostridium spp
  • Coagulase positive Staphylococcus spp
  • Enterococcus spp
  • Listeria monocytongenes
  • E. coli O157
  • Listeria monocytogenes
  • Listeria spp
  • Salmonella spp.

Food Non-Pathogens

 Programs Available:
  • Beverage ingredients
  • Soups
  • Infant formula
  • Traditional foods
  • Festive foods
Tests for:
  • Plate Count and Anaerobic count
  • Bacillus cereus
  • E. coli
  • Enterobacteriaceae
  • Lactic acid bacteria
  • E. coli O157
  • Mold
  • Coliforms
  • Pseudomonas spp
  • Thermotolerant (faecal) Coliforms
  • Yeast

Specialist Food Matrices

 Programs Available:
  • Chocolate
  • Ground beef
  • Infant formula
  • Traditional foods
  • Festive foods
Tests for:
  • Plate Count and Anaerobic count
  • Bacillus cereus
  • E. coli
  • Enterobacteriaceae
  • Lactic acid bacteria
  • E. coli O157
  • Mold
  • Coliforms
  • Pseudomonas spp
  • Thermotolerant (faecal) Coliforms
  • Yeast



Carcass Hygiene

 Twice a year programs for carcass hygiene.

Tests for:
  • Plate Count
  • E. coli
  • Coliforms
  • Salmonella spp

Big 6 E.coli

 "Big 6" E.coli detection and identification
  • O26
  • O45
  • O103
  • O111
  • O121
  • O145
  • O157
  • Detection of eae and stx gene

Extension Microbiology

 Programs Available:
  • Milk powder
  • Other simulated samples
Tests for:
  • Enterobacteriaceae
  • Aerobic and Anaerobic Mesophilic and Thermophilic spores
  • Total Anaerobic
  • Cronobacter sakazakii
  • Campylobacter spp
  • Vibrio cholerae
  • Vibrio parahaemolyticus
  • Salmonella spp
  • Yersinia spp
  • Yersinia enterocolitica



Food Factory Hygiene

 Programs Available:
  • General hygiene checks
  • Gram negative organisms
  • Gram positive organisms
Tests for:
  • Plate count
  • Anaerobic Count
  • Mold
  • Yeast
  • Coliforms
  • Enterobacteriaceae
  • Campylobacter spp
  • E. coli
  • Salmonella spp.
  • Colagulase positive Staphylococcus spp
  • Clostridium spp

Potable Water and Beverage

 Twice a year programs for drinking water and beverages.

Tests for:
  • Coliforms
  • Clostridium spp (vegetative)
  • Enterococcus spp
  • Thermotolerant (faecal) Coliforms
  • E. coli
  • Ps. aeruginosa
  • Campylobacter spp
  • Pseudomonas spp
  • Yeast
  • Mold
  • Faecal Streptococcus spp
  • Coagulase positive Staphylococcus spp

Environmental Waters

 Twice a year programs for environmental water.

Tests for:
  • Coliforms
  • Enterococcus spp
  • E. coli
  • Ps. Aeruginosa
  • Yeast
  • Mold
  • Thermotolerant (faecal) Coliforms
  • E. coli
  • Salmonella spp.
  • Colagulase positive Staphylococcus spp
  • Clostridium spp
Additional program for sludge available.



Legionella

 Programs Available:
  • Cooling tower water , with an option for detection by filtration methods
Tests for:
  • Legionella pneumophila (SG1, SG2-14)
  • Total Legionella pneumophila
  • Legionella spp
  • Total Legionella

Pharmaceutical, Surgical and Cosmetics

 Programs Available:
  • Cosmetics
  • Lotions
  • Herbal tea preparation
  • Capsules
  • Tablets
  • Tablet bases
Tests for:
  • Yeast
  • Mold
  • Total Yeast & Mold
  • Total aerobic microbial count (TAMC)
  • Total combined yeast & mold count (TYMC)
  • and more

Veterinary

 Twice a year veterninary microbiology schemes available.

Tests for:
  • Antibiotic Sensitivity
  • Organism Identification
  • Biochemical Tests


Get more info to plan your lab proficiency testing program

Please fill out the below form to let us know you're interested in proficiency testing.