Microbiological Analysis on Food Packaging Sector

Hello,

I want to discuss about the microbiological anaysis on foodsector.

We are flexible convering firm and we've ISO22000, BRC/IOP, hygiene implementation and GMP ect.... so we've to make microbiological anaysis...

At the begining our quality departman create lots of documents and analysis...and i can't do microbiological analysis everytime what they create microbiological plan...

for example :
-we make water analysis ( we are making this analysis 4 times in one month... we are sending external lab. for water analyses per 6 months..and we dont use water in the production area?... is it really necessary to do this?)
-we make swab personel analysis every week on lots of people who is not having risk for contamination... we have lots of departmans..can we do this for this swabs; can we make this swab analysis on just risks personel per 6 months? what s the criterie?
-We are making micro analysis on machines... but we dont use any water or food in our production. so is it really necessary?
-We are making micro analysis on air and ambient... is it really necessary ? we are using solvents in our production??... i guess microorganisms cant live....
-we are making micro analysis on final products every day, we are producing too many final products over 100 every day... is it really necessary to make analysis on final products? can we send external lab once a year to do this?


so i know hygiene is hygiene.... i dont think that there is a high microbiological risk on foodpackaging sector....
how can i organize this documents? who can guide to me?


thank you very very much for your replies...



özgür

Hi
What are the products you are dealing with and what sort of operation is carried out at your facility?

Hello,

I want to discuss about the microbiological anaysis on foodsector.

We are flexible convering firm and we've ISO22000, BRC/IOP, hygiene implementation and GMP ect.... so we've to make microbiological anaysis...

At the begining our quality departman create lots of documents and analysis...and i can't do microbiological analysis everytime what they create microbiological plan...

for example :
-we make water analysis ( we are making this analysis 4 times in one month... we are sending external lab. for water analyses per 6 months..and we dont use water in the production area?... is it really necessary to do this?)
-we make swab personel analysis every week on lots of people who is not having risk for contamination... we have lots of departmans..can we do this for this swabs; can we make this swab analysis on just risks personel per 6 months? what s the criterie?
-We are making micro analysis on machines... but we dont use any water or food in our production. so is it really necessary?
-We are making micro analysis on air and ambient... is it really necessary ? we are using solvents in our production??... i guess microorganisms cant live....
-we are making micro analysis on final products every day, we are producing too many final products over 100 every day... is it really necessary to make analysis on final products? can we send external lab once a year to do this?


so i know hygiene is hygiene.... i dont think that there is a high microbiological risk on foodpackaging sector....
how can i organize this documents? who can guide to me?


thank you very very much for your replies...



özgür

Dear Ozgur,


I am a food auditor and I have no business in food packaging materials.
I do not know what kind food packaging material, you are making. Is it for baby food or for diet food?
I do not know if there are any specif customer requirements within these microbiological analyses.

The most food companies I visit, do not have such an extensive microbiological analyse plan.

If it is necessary in your business to do these analysis, I can not answer for you.
We should know the exact business you are in and local legislation.

The analyse plan should be risk based and comply with legal and customer requirements.
I advice you to discuss this with your quality department people and see if there is a practical way to deal with any requirements and risks.

We started with a quarterly audit swabbing hands, product, machine rollers etc. for various bacteria as well as putting out settle plates in various areas to sample air quality for yeasts, molds, TVC. The frequency was reduced to 6 months because of consistently good results and then reduced again to annually. Generally I think yeasts and molds are greater likelihood (still low though) to be present on packaging that could cause problems for food customers. IMHO. If anyone knows better let me know.

Regards,
Simon

Your testing programme does seem far more extensive than most packaging manufacturers.

I have been to a couple of flexible packaging companies in Turkey and they both had an impressively proactive approach to microbiological control - barrier hygiene controls, disinfectant mats/baths, positive air pressue etc, much more than is normal in Europe. I would never advise relaxing operational controls but certainly there is scope for reducing the amount of micro testing that you are doing.

The first question that I would ask is have you ever had a test result that indicated a problem? Your raw material films are made using a heat process which will destroy pretty much any bugs. Your laminating and printing processes will use solvents which will again reduce any micro risk. Fom what you say there is no water used in the process, if so, even if there were a problem it is unlikely that this would affect the product.

I have looked at a large number of micro reports over the years and I can only remember one occasion where I saw any cause for concern

The next question is how do you interpret the results? There is very little guidance around to define limits. I have seen limits stated which are several factors of ten more demanding than for ready to eat foods!

Simon's approach is about right I think.

Look at the areas of your operation where bacteria/moulds/yeast could be introduced and focus on those areas.

This may include parts of the process where there is significant handling - you may make bags as opposed to reels for instance.

Look at you ink drying system - are you blowing air over the product?

You may have an intermediate curing step using a hot room

A combination of air settle plates, plant swabs, hand swabs and occasional product testing on a fairly low frequency should be all you need.

That is allot of testing! I would consider testing the hand-washing water occasionally too. Annually should be fine. :) Remember the local water testing results maybe useless at the tap in your plant!

That is allot of testing! I would consider testing the hand-washing water occasionally too. Annually should be fine. :) Remember the local water testing results maybe useless at the tap in your plant!

 

Unfortunately the OP never responded/clarified  4 years ago.

 

Posts 4/5  were logical replies IMO. Comes down to risk analysis.