Category: Laboratory testing

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 600 million people fall ill annually from contaminated food. Correctly knowing how to take food samples for testing is a critical first step in ensuring food safety and protecting public health.

Established for its rigor and accuracy, the AOAC method is a globally recognized standard for analytical testing. For food manufacturers and researchers, understanding what is the AOAC method of crude fat determination is crucial for ensuring nutritional accuracy, compliance, and product quality.

In biochemistry, the ability to identify and differentiate carbohydrates is fundamental. Among the many chemical tests available, two qualitative tests are commonly used to assess different qualities of carbohydrates: Benedict's test for reducing sugars and the Iodine test for starch. These methods leverage distinct chemical properties to produce observable color changes that indicate the presence of specific carbohydrate types.

According to scientific studies on critically ill patients, a significant percentage, sometimes over 50%, can have deficient plasma glutamine levels. Understanding how to test for glutamine is therefore crucial for assessing nutritional status and monitoring metabolic health in various clinical contexts.

According to the FDA, high-dose biotin supplements can significantly interfere with laboratory tests, leading to dangerously false results. This interference, rather than a true biological interaction, is a key concern for patients and clinicians trying to accurately measure dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) levels, making it crucial to understand how this common vitamin impacts sensitive diagnostic methods.

According to the National Institutes of Health, malnutrition affects a significant portion of hospitalized patients, highlighting its clinical importance. So, what lab value do you expect to be low in someone who has malnutrition? The answer involves a multi-faceted view of a patient's protein, nutrient, and overall inflammatory status.

When testing for glucose, the initial blue colour of Benedict's reagent changes to a range of colours, including green, yellow, orange, and brick-red, depending on the concentration of reducing sugar. This visual shift provides a semi-quantitative indication of the sugar level present in a solution.

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble antioxidant essential for human health. Its accurate measurement is critical in food science, pharmaceutical applications, and clinical diagnostics. Determining the quantity of this vital nutrient requires specific and often complex laboratory techniques to ensure reliable results in a variety of matrices.

According to the USDA, the ORAC method for testing antioxidant capacity was withdrawn from official publications in 2012 due to a lack of evidence linking in-vitro results directly to in-vivo health benefits. However, the ORAC assay procedure continues to be utilized in various research fields and for commercial product comparisons.

According to research cited by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, high vitamin C intake can make blood sugar levels appear higher than they are in point-of-care glucose meters. This interference extends to many other common lab tests, potentially leading to inaccurate results and misguided medical decisions.