: Checking for dehydration, contamination, hemolysis, or cracked plates upon receipt.
The CLSI M22-A3 standard outlines quality control requirements for commercially prepared microbiological culture media, reducing the need for user testing on "proven reliability" media while establishing an acceptable failure rate of ≤0.5%. While applicable internationally, US laboratories now primarily follow Individualized Quality Control Plans (IQCP) under CLIA regulations rather than strictly adhering to M22-A3, which was updated to include 27 additional exempt media types. Purchase the document directly at clsi m22a3 pdf link
The CLSI M22-A3 standard, Quality Control for Commercially Prepared Microbiological Culture Media : Checking for dehydration
Clinical and laboratory impact
One of the most significant contributions of the M22-A3 guideline is the classification of media into two categories: clsi m22a3 pdf link