The importance of a sound environmental monitoring program cannot be overstated. “If microbial growth niches are established in the processing environment, finished product contamination is inevitable,” notes Anita Kressner, Director of Product Marketing with BioControl Systems, Inc., a worldwide leader in industrial microbiology testing and hygiene monitoring. Such product contamination may result in reduced shelf life, pathogen contamination, or the product exceeding microbiological specifications. At “best,” this is an economic headache for a processor, who may have to pull or rework the product; at worst, it is a potential food safety hazard to the consumer.
With this in mind, it is important that food manufacturers regularly monitor the plant environment so corrective action can be taken before a problem arises. By employing test and sampling methods that are at the forefront of technology, any plant can institute a beneficial environmental monitoring program.
Start by Monitoring your Sanitation Effectiveness
Monitoring a plant’s sanitation process is a crucial component of an environmental monitoring program. The plant environment is not a constant, it is always in flux, says Kressner. Using an ATP bioluminescence system such as the LIGHTNING MVP enables a processor to verify sanitation effectiveness on a daily basis and instantly identify “hot spots” where microbiological testing should be done. “Depending on size of the plant, the quality assurance manager should identify multiple sampling sites on each line to be tested in a rotating fashion and randomly select a pre-determined number of these sites each day for testing with the LIGHTNING MVP. When you look at those test points over time, you’ll see which ones repeatedly have higher ATP levels than the others.” Incorporating these sites into a plant’s microbiological sampling plan makes good sense.
Based on this type of usage, she stresses the importance of selecting an ATP system on which you can depend. Many systems suffer from issues such as sanitizer interference or require refrigeration of their swabs. This gives rise to variability, which makes the development and adherence to an environmental monitoring system difficult, if not impossible. Due to these concerns, developing a chemistry to neutralize the effect of sanitizers was a key goal in the development of the LIGHTNING MVP sampling devices. This ensures accurate and consistent readings on which an organization can confidently base their monitoring program.