I just started working in a new lab, and we're having some issues with microbial contamination in our cell cultures. We're still tracking it down, and aren't really sure if it might be the stock reagent, our prepared aliquots, or something else.

One thing that I was wondering is: if, say, the manufacturer produced a bad batch of fetal bovine serum, would the manufacturer go ahead and notify all the labs that had bought that lot number? Is this standard practice among manufacturers? I asked my PI, but he was unsure. I did some searches but didn't find any answers . My expectation would be that that yes, this notification should be universal and automatic.

Thanks.

I don't know the answer to your question (unfortunately), but you could call the company and ask them if they have any records. Something similar happened to me ones....I called the company and then they checked if they had any other calls/complains about that particular batch.

They will not contact you. I've always contacted companies--they will tell you if other people have reported problems and if not, record your complaint so that it may help others.