Revised EN ISO 11133: Updates on Culture Media Preparation and Quality Control
Webinar
ISO 11133:2014 is a mandatory standard for all ISO 17025-accredited laboratories conducting microbiological analysis of food, feed, and water. It is also widely used by non-accredited laboratories. The upcoming second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (ISO 11133:2014) and incorporates amendments from 2018 and 2020.
The new edition covers all culture media and reagents intended for microbiological analysis of samples from the food chain as well as all kinds of water. It includes detailed requirements on quality control and performance testing, and guidance on testing frequency to be carried out by end-user laboratories. The test frequency shall be defined by the end-user laboratory, depending on the quality control competency demonstrated by the culture media manufacturer.
It includes the most important reference culture media and adds details on measuring the pH of culture media during performance testing. New information is provided on procedures for producing standardized test suspensions (inocula) and their conservation, with examples for several control microorganisms, like Clostridium, Legionella and Campylobacter.
In the second presentation, learn how our dehydrated culture media can enable end-user laboratories to lower the test frequency and how end users can easily identify these media.
The webinar addresses the following topics:
- The most significant technical changes introduced in the new edition of EN ISO 11133
- Best practices for culture media quality control and performance testing
- How testing frequency should be determined based on supplier competency
- New annexes covering reference culture media, pH measurement, and inoculum preparation and maintenance of control strains
- How our dehydrated culture media can help laboratories reduce testing frequency while maintaining compliance
Speakers
Barbara Gerten
Gerten Consultant Service, Mannheim, Germany
Technical Consultant
Barbara has more than 35 years’ experience in the field of industrial microbiology and recently retired from the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Since then, she has been working as an independent consultant specializing in standardization.
She is Chair of the German DIN Technical Committee on ‘Microbiology of the Food Chain’ and a member of other DIN, CEN, ISO and IDF technical committees responsible for microbiological standards in the fields of food and water, including ISO/TC 34/SC 9 ‘Food products – Microbiology’ and in the working groups ‘Method validation’ and ‘Culture media’, and Chair of ISO/TC 147/SC 4 ‘Water quality – Microbiological methods’; and member of the Expert Council of DAkkS (National accreditation body of the Federal Republic of Germany).
Dr. Andreas Bubert
Merck
Senior Global Product Manager, Culture Media
Andreas received a PhD in molecular microbiology for his research and diagnostics work on Listeria. He has over 27 years’ experience at the Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, focusing on microbiological solutions for the food and beverage industries. He is a member of AOAC RI Advisory Council and has authored over 50 publications.
Dr. Sha Zhu
Merck
Regulatory Marketing Expert, BioMonitoring
Sha received a Ph.D. in Applied Microbiology from Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany for research and work on Cronobacter in infant formulae. As a member of ISO, DIN and Chinese GB microbiology committees for food, water, and dairy, she has specialized in development, regulation, and standardization of microbiology testing methods across food, beverage, cosmetics and water. She is engaged in collaborative work in working groups of ISO/TC 34/SC 9 ‘Food products – Microbiology’.
Food and beverage testing and manufacturing
- Regulatory compliance
Duration:1h
Session 1:Wed, October 28, 2026 9:00 AM CEST
Session 2:Wed, October 28, 2026 11:00 AM ET