What do you test for when testing water and air in a food manufacturer
Hello All,
I work at a food manufacture and we are going to be taking some water samples and air samples to the lab, and I want to know what to test for.
What do you test for when testing water and air in a food manufacture?
Do I test for Coliforms, TPC, Yeast and Mold ect. Im not positive on what to test for when testing water and compressed air.
Also what is a bad test? What is a high count for TPC or coliforms?
Please let me know your thoughts.
Thank you,
Marvis Brown
SQF Practitioner
Dear MBrown,
My first thought was that you should ask an SQF Practitioner. :smile:
I assume the water is required to be "potable".
There are US standards for this which are detailed/linked in other threads here (from memory posted by myself et al).
Compressed air is i suspect a bit more obscure in the official sense. This topic in an SQF context (from memory the Code does have some info. as per yr query) has also been previously discussed here in some detail and with considerable disagreement over certain issues.
Try search "potable" or "drinking" / "compressed" perhaps ?
Rgds / Charles.C
I just test ambient air and compressed air for total plate count... then we send out water samples on a regular basis and test for coliforms and HPC.
SQF needs to come out with a standard for testing compressed air. There is to much uncertainty in the food industry in terms of what is needed to be tested and what acceptable levels are; aerobic plate count, Total Coliform, mold count and yeast count. I have my procedure stating that Testing areas should not exceed 15 microorganism colonies per plate during a sample period.
Is my procedure a well developed? I don't know, I don't have anything to compare it to. The best comparison I had was to compare it to the dairy industry standards for testing compressed air. 15 microorganism colonies was stated in a dairy industry article i read and is where I got my critical limit from.
Am I covering all my basis with testing the above 4 areas? I don't know, I don't have anything to compare it to. I asked a label and they informed me this is what they normally test for, so I went with it.
I am however compliant with what the SQF code, at least thats what my auditors in the past have told me.
Very Frustrating...
Thank you all. This is helpful.
SQF needs to come out with a standard for testing compressed air. There is to much uncertainty in the food industry in terms of what is needed to be tested and what acceptable levels are; aerobic plate count, Total Coliform, mold count and yeast count. I have my procedure stating that Testing areas should not exceed 15 microorganism colonies per plate during a sample period.
Is my procedure a well developed? I don't know, I don't have anything to compare it to. The best comparison I had was to compare it to the dairy industry standards for testing compressed air. 15 microorganism colonies was stated in a dairy industry article i read and is where I got my critical limit from.
Am I covering all my basis with testing the above 4 areas? I don't know, I don't have anything to compare it to. I asked a label and they informed me this is what they normally test for, so I went with it.
I am however compliant with what the SQF code, at least thats what my auditors in the past have told me.
Very Frustrating...
Yeah. I've had a desk audit, pre-assessment, certification and surveillance audit, and I am almost entirely sure that my auditor still hasn't even looked at my testing procedures, so really who knows?
Hello All-
Here is what SQF has said about testing compressed air. Notes in quotes can be found on their website at sqfi.com.
- “Food processing facilities need to operate from a fundamental assumption that compressed air can be a source of chemical and microbiological contamination.”
- “The site must verify and validate that the compressed air used in the facility is appropriate for use and not a source of contamination.”
- "Microbiological testing can include testing for aerobic plate count and/or indicator organisms as appropriate to the operation. Testing for moisture should be considered if moisture is a potential risk to the product (e.g., dry operations). Aseptic sample collection should be used. "
At Trace Analytics we typically see food manufacturers testing for particles, water, oil and microbiological contaminants. Testing for gases is also available if needed. The BCAS and ISO 8573 are great sources when trying to determine the contaminants and allowable limits that your company would like to test for. The BCAS states that compressed air coming in Direct Contact with food shall meet ISO 8573-1:2010 Purity Class 2:2:1; Indirect Contact 2:4:2. ISO 8573 provides classes with allowable limits but does not suggest what limits are acceptable for various uses. They leave choosing classes to the user.
If you would like more literature on compressed air testing or a quote please feel free to contact me directly. We are always happy to assist you with establishing you compressed air purity testing program.
Laura Gunn
I tested coliform, sensory (aroma, etc) and chemical parmeters (pH, TDS etc) for water and i used potable water for standard. And for Compressed air i tested TPC.
Rgds
AS Nur
Potable water you test for total coliforms(which should be nil per 100ml), TVC, TOP, Conductivity, pH, TDS, Fe content if you use Ferrous for your water treatment. For air you need to focus on yeast and moulds.
Hi ,
We test water for:
- chlorine, hardness, iron,
- TTC, coliforms, E, coli, taste, colour, odour
Regards
Agnes
Coliforms and PH
what are the acceptable limits or levels for APC and COLIFORMS ? Fresh Vegetables processing here.. thank you if some will answer :)
I don't see anyone testing the water for "quality"..........this facility received a minor on the last audit because there wasn't a quality test.........
11.5.4.1 Water shall comply with local, national or internationally recognized potable water microbiological and quality standards for use......
The water gets tested monthly for potablility, but QUALITY??????? as far as I can tell, there are not any standards for QUALITY...thoughts? This makes sense if your finished good is bottle water........otherwise potability should be king
I don't see anyone testing the water for "quality"..........this facility received a minor on the last audit because there wasn't a quality test.........
11.5.4.1 Water shall comply with local, national or internationally recognized potable water microbiological and quality standards for use......
The water gets tested monthly for potablility, but QUALITY??????? as far as I can tell, there are not any standards for QUALITY...thoughts? This makes sense if your finished good is bottle water........otherwise potability should be king
Hi Scampi,
Terminologies in use, eg "potable", "quality", are as usual apt to be confusing. I opine you were interpreting "quality" as "non-safety related factors". This seems logical as per SQF glossary.
SQF Glossary
Potable - Water that is safe to drink.
Potable water means water that meets the standards for drinking purposes of the State or local authority having jurisdiction, or water that meets the quality standards prescribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (40 CFR part 141).
https://www.osha.gov...ARDS&p_id=10624
afaik the "primary" means items listed here -
https://www.epa.gov/...ter-regulations
Some of the items listed in primary are clearly not directly safety-related, eg turbidity, coliforms.
there is also a collection of secondary EPA factors (presumably non-safety related) here -
https://www.epa.gov/...sance-chemicals
I have little doubt that the Philippines will have their own legislatory requirements. Occasionally customer destination requirements may also act as a secondary standard.
the WHO/EC Drinking Water Standards for potability also include safety/non-safety factors (i think).
The US state legalities IIRC also relate to whether water is "well"-sourced or not.
For water depends of what your company requires, we do test every month for coliforms and e. coli, and yearly we test for inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals, pesticides, ph, tds, and nitrates. For air samples we are currently creating our own base line for Aerobic Count, Yeast and Mold.