ATP testing
Hi. I would like to know what others in the food packaging industry are doing concerning ATP swabbing or how you validate your sanitation methods.
My company manufactures valves for whip cream, icing, and cheese. For the whip cream valves we send monthly samples that are tested for residual bacteria per the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) requirements. We also have SQF certification.
We recently had residual bacteria samples come back higher than normal and we are evaluating our sampling program as well as sanitation. We have a 3M ATP testing machine that we have had for several years but never really incorporated.
What are others doing? What is the industry "best practice"?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
We use the ATP swab from Hygiena for CIP+SIP validation from last 3 years. We have set the max. limit of 40 RLU and results are consistency and satisfactory.
Hello,
I have worked in the dairy industry and have used ATP machines. These equipment are a good reference to indicate the cleanliness of a surface area. Its a quick way to tell whether the surface is clean right away in the case that you would need to re-clean.
In dairy facilities, we have used BioControls - MVP Icon. Now that I have moved into the dips category, we have been using Charm Novalum. However, we are exploring other ATP devices from 3M, BioControl, and Hygiena since we have been having issues with our charm device.
Alongside ATP swabs, we are taking coliform swabs, which takes longer to get results, but allows us to trend our most problematic areas.
Hope you find what you are looking for.
Hi. I would like to know what others in the food packaging industry are doing concerning ATP swabbing or how you validate your sanitation methods.
My company manufactures valves for whip cream, icing, and cheese. For the whip cream valves we send monthly samples that are tested for residual bacteria per the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO) requirements. We also have SQF certification.
We recently had residual bacteria samples come back higher than normal and we are evaluating our sampling program as well as sanitation. We have a 3M ATP testing machine that we have had for several years but never really incorporated.
What are others doing? What is the industry "best practice"?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
Hi Chris,
Just one comment. ATP results are typically not correlated to micro data although, as noted in other posts, are useful for cleaning assessment.
Use both and correlate your micro results against the ATP results. You would need to do side by side sampling and testing of the same exact surface areas to get any correlation.
Can you expand in some detail as to the type of valve, the materials used on the contact surfaces, and also do these valves meet the 3A standard?
Use both and correlate your micro results against the ATP results. You would need to do side by side sampling and testing of the same exact surface areas to get any correlation.
Can you expand in some detail as to the type of valve, the materials used on the contact surfaces, and also do these valves meet the 3A standard?
Hi Ryan,
afaik the usual advice from ATP instrument manufacturer's/literature is that a correlation is improbable for food scenarios. One reason is that bacterial species often have relatively low ATP significance compared to non-microbial residues. So maybe apples/oranges.
But some (food) exceptions have ben documented.. Perhaps you have specific experience in the OP's packaging area of application ?
Unfortunately the OP did not include any quantitative data or PMO valve specifications.
Hi Ryan,
afaik the usual advice from ATP instrument manufacturer's/literature is that a correlation is improbable for food scenarios. One reason is that bacterial species often have relatively low ATP significance compared to non-microbial residues. So maybe apples/oranges.
But some (food) exceptions have ben documented.. Perhaps you have specific experience in the OP's packaging area of application ?
Unfortunately the OP did not include any quantitative data or PMO valve specifications.
You are right, there is nothing validated for ATP against micro when it comes to swabbing. However, one can correlate the two if enough ATP swabs and micro swabs are taken at the same points over a given timeframe.
This would be specific to each study and process. It would not translate to various locations or various pieces of equipment. It is very specific and honestly quite time consuming. We did this exercise on our packaging lines since they are the "high risk" area in our process even though a clean room environment. We did find correlation between the ATP swabbing and the micro for SPC/APC.
You are right, there is nothing validated for ATP against micro when it comes to swabbing. However, one can correlate the two if enough ATP swabs and micro swabs are taken at the same points over a given timeframe.
This would be specific to each study and process. It would not translate to various locations or various pieces of equipment. It is very specific and honestly quite time consuming. We did this exercise on our packaging lines since they are the "high risk" area in our process even though a clean room environment. We did find correlation between the ATP swabbing and the micro for SPC/APC.
Hi Ryan,
Thks. Interesting.
Just out of curiosity, was it a linear correlation ?