I have to admit, my old-school tendencies often prevent me from thinking out-of-the box, but recently I was asked about completely removing SDA as a fungi/mold growth medium in Environmental Monitoring programs. I contacted some old friends who are definitely NOT old-school like me and asked them their opinion. John Lindsay of Aseptic Solutions explained that this was becoming more and more common as long as it was backed up with the scientific data and a risk assessment. Jim Agallaco also commented that this is a current industry topic (one that his new group the Council for Pharmaceutical Excellence is taking up). So, with data apparently, this is being done. Old dog, new tricks.