Is it necessary to contract a professional microbiologist to create a testing program, or is it something we can design on our own (assuming it is scientifically sound)?
I am attempting to develop our Environmental Monitoring swab program and was wondering if anyone had specific pathogen agars they exclusively worked with. We are a dietary supplement ingredient/food and beverage ingredient facility.
Hi Shagenbaugh,
I would say you can do it in-house provided that you have adequate technical resources and appropriate sampling/analysis procedures for yr specific product/process/target micro parameters.
Many generic models exist in the literature (and on this forum) with foci on various pathogens like Listeria spp, Salmonella spp and indicators like Enterobacteriaceae, the choice often related to the product/process. No doubt models for the food & beverage industry have also been published.
The usual sampling approach is via zones based on a risk assessment for the particular product/process layout. The agar media will obviously depend on the choice of target micro. species/indicator/procedure.
Just as an example, a general Canadian sampling procedure is attached in this post –
http://www.ifsqn.com...wab/#entry96582
There are many other, some pictorially rich, more detailed examples on this forum.
PS - Welcome to the Forum ! 