Food safety does not end with the creation of a documented plan. It must be an ongoing effort, especially in processing facilities producing ready-to-eat (RTE) products, where product contamination may lead to public health risks, costly recalls and reputation damage.
Having a facility that meets or exceeds industry accepted principles of sanitary design, coupled with effective and verifiable sanitation processes is the foundation. But having a comprehensive environmental monitoring program (EMP) is an essential component of an effective food safety system. In many industries a continuous improvement model is viewed as a way to make operations more efficient and productive. In food safety, environmental monitoring helps drive continuous improvement in cleaning and sanitation practices to detect and mitigate food safety risks. One of the most notable being Listeria contamination.