When we develop products that need a good preservative system, we always test that product using the USP 51 Antimicrobial Effectiveness protocols. That gives a good impression of how well the product will hold up on the shelf and how well it can stand up to abuse by the consumer. When OTC Antiseptics are intended for a particular environment like a hospital, they may need more testing to ensure they measure up.
Species-Specific Analysis
A well-known bacteria, MRSA is most common in hospitals because that's where anyone who is infected by them will end up. If you want to take an antiseptic into the hospital market, it would improve our marketing position to be able to give kill rates on specific bacterial species common to that environment. We can test our product or one of ours in our package against nearly any known species of bacteria or virus.
Quality Control
Nearly all of our products are tested for bacteria when they are made and again after being filled into the final package. We retain samples from each batch to perform ongoing stability studies and bacteriology over time so we can be certain that our preservative systems and packages are of the highest quality and performance level.