For the manufacturers of cosmetic and personal care products, it is important to ensure that their products are free of microorganisms and are safe for consumer use. This can only be achieved through use of a sound quality assurance and control program. Accugen is a highly qualified test laboratory for the cosmetic and personal care industries. Our staff of experienced personnel serve you to assure that your products are free of objectionable microorganisms. Following are the most common tests:

• Aerobic Plate Count (APC)

This test determines the total number of aerobic bacteria in the product. It is a 48 to 72 hour test.

• Yeast and Mold Count

  This test determines the total number of yeast and fungi in the product. It is carried out for five days.

• Antimicrobial Effectiveness Test (Challenge Test):

Antimicrobial preservatives are added in products to protect them from microbial contamination. The antimicrobial efficacy test evaluates the effectiveness of an antimicrobial preservative.The microorganism survival is monitored for 28 days. At least 100 - 150 ml or grams of the product is needed to run this test.The test is carried out in such a way that the product is challenged with known strains of microorganisms. Samples are tested at different intervals to determine the survival of the organisms. The test demonstrates the efficacy of the product to stop the growth of organisms including Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ,Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger.

• Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)

This test determines the lowest concentration of the product inhibiting visible growth of microorganisms.

Zone of Inhibition

Zone of inhibition is the area of no bacterial growth around the product in the disk-diffusion test. A series of test agent impregnated paper disks are placed on a plate inoculated to form a bacterial lawn. The plates are incubated to allow growth of the bacteria . If an organism is susceptible to an agent, a clear zone will appear around the disk where the growth has been inhibited. The size of this zone of inhibition depends on the sensitivity of the bacteria to the specific product and the products ability to diffuse through the agar.

Accugen provides cosmetic testing lab services as well as personal care testing lab services.