What Are AOCS Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) and Quality Reference Materials (QRMs)?

AOCS Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) and Quality Reference Materials (QRMs) are two laboratory quality-assurance products offered through aocs.org. CRMs are used to verify the presence of genetically modified traits in commercially available crops, while QRMs are known samples used to ensure quality throughout your lab. Both sit alongside AOCS Official Methods and the Laboratory Proficiency Program (LPP) in the organization's technical product line, so they are aimed at labs that need documented, traceable checks on their analytical work.

What CRMs are for

A CRM is a reference material with a certified property value. In the AOCS catalog, the stated use is verifying the presence of genetically modified traits in commercially available crops. That makes CRMs relevant when a lab needs to confirm that its detection method is actually picking up the trait it claims to detect, rather than relying on an unverified in-house sample.

The practical value is in the word "certified": the material comes with a value the supplier stands behind, so results obtained against it can be compared and documented.

What QRMs are for

A QRM is a quality reference material built from known samples. AOCS describes the purpose as using known samples to ensure quality throughout your lab. The emphasis is on the whole workflow rather than a single certified trait — QRMs give you a sample whose composition you already know, so you can check that your process is behaving as expected from run to run.

If CRMs answer "did we detect the right thing?", QRMs answer "is our lab still producing consistent results?"

CRM vs. QRM at a glance

How they fit with the rest of the AOCS technical line

AOCS groups these materials with other lab-facing products:

• Official Methods and Recommended Practices — more than 400 expert-validated methods for fats and oils, surfactants, proteins, and related materials, delivered on a continuously updated digital platform.
• Laboratory Proficiency Program (LPP) — a way to demonstrate your lab's quality and meet ISO 17025 standards.
• Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) and Quality Reference Materials (QRMs) — the physical reference samples described above.

Used together, methods define what to do, reference materials check whether you did it correctly, and the LPP provides an external comparison of your results.

Where to find them

Both CRM and QRM listings are reachable from the Technical Products area of aocs.org, which also links to the full set of reference material options. The site's Technical Products section is the entry point for browsing methods, the LPP, CRMs, and QRMs in one place.

Choosing between them

There is no rule that says you must pick one. The choice depends on what you are trying to demonstrate:

• If your lab reports on GM traits in crops and needs a certified value to support those calls, a CRM matches that need.
• If you want an ongoing internal check that your lab's quality holds across samples and runs, a QRM matches that need.
• If you need both detection confidence and routine quality monitoring, the two serve different steps and are not substitutes for each other.

For current availability, material details, and ordering information, check the Technical Products pages on aocs.org directly, since the catalog is maintained there.