The Health Protection Agency’s Food and Environmental Proficiency Testing Unit (FEPTU) is accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), to ISO Guide 34:2009, as a producer of certified reference materials (CRMs) for food and water microbiology laboratories. Certified values include the identification of the micro-organisms and the enumeration of the species. The CRMs are prepared from strains from the HPA’s National Collection of Type Cultures following a single passage.

HPA CRMs are provided in a unique LENTICULE disc format that is very simple to use. The technology is supported by peer-reviewed scientific publications that support traceability statements. Order forms and product certificates are available from the links on this page. Certificates should be kept with the purchased CRMs at all times. In addition to the certified data, the certificates also provide guidance for use and non-certified information to help laboratories to ensure that they are getting the best use from their CRMs.

Most of the CRM products have multiple uses, although products with a product code that is prefixed by RMH₂O are specifically designed for use as controls for testing water samples.

CRMs are provided through distributors in the following countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden ( Certified Reference Materials distributors )

Uses for HPA CRMs:

CRMs can be used for:

• Quality control of culture media 
• Process controls for traditional and molecular methods 
• Spiking samples (deliberate inoculation of food and water matrices)

Features of HPA Reference Materials:

• Accredited by UKAS as directly traceable to NCTC cultures 
• Contain certified levels of micro-organisms 
• Long term stability and statistically proven batch homogeneity 
• Quality controlled by HPA laboratories at multiple manufacturing stages
• Additional quality control undertaken through to expiry date

Backed up by technical support and expertise from the HPA microbiologists

Additional Benefits of HPA LENTICULE Discs

• Easy to use 
• Removes the requirement for stock cultures 
• Significant process improvement over the use of frozen cultures stored on beads 
• Saves time – no dilutions required 
• One step process – removes a potential source of error 
• Reduces costs in terms of time and consumables required 
• Quantitative, not qualitative – challenging selectivity and sensitivity

LENTICULE discs provide a means of preserving bacteria. They consist of control-dried cultures of biologically active micro-organisms, that require storage at -20±5°C. They can be prepared to contain a wide range of bacteria at levels between 10 and 100million colony forming units per LENTICULE disc.

LENTICULE is a trade mark of the HPA

• Certified Reference Materials distributors
  Added/updated: 21 December 2011
  
• Reference Materials Certificates
  Added/updated: 9 February 2012