Expert view: How robust is your fungal ID strategy?
Posted: 25 August 2020 | Charles River | No comments yet
This expert view from Charles River explores the different methods of fungal identification, allowing you to proactively address issues before they occur and provide information for successful remediation.
Fungal contamination of pharmaceutical and consumer care product poses the risks of both spoilage and health hazards. Formulations can be altered by the metabolic activity of fungi and its presence alone can taint a product, making it undesirable by changing appearance or smell. Fungal contamination can also result in infections or sickness due to fungal toxins.
Over the last five years, there has been an increasing number of product recalls due to fungal contamination. Regulatory agencies have responded by placing additional emphasis on fungal isolation and identification as part of environmental monitoring to ensure patient safety. While it was common practice in the past to either identify these organisms to the genus level or, in some cases, simply as “molds”, this is no longer acceptable to regulators.