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[Brendar1]

We are starting in house environmental monitoring for listeria and salmonella and I have a question in regard to testing for multiple sites with different products produced.  We produce frozen food products and will be starting to test in house for listeria and salmonella.  (We are presently sending out these tests but after we start, we will send out on a quarterly basis for validation).  We are a limited liability company owned by a board of governors and the board also owns a company that sells one pasta product.  This company is in close proximity to our location.  As far as FDA-FSMA, SQF, does anyone know if it would be acceptable for one location to perform the in house testing for the other site?  We would bring the sample to our facility to test for listeria and salmonella.  (They would still perform validation testing via an outside lab as well)  Thank you for your help!

[mec862]

Hi Brendar1,

 

I didn't think Food Manufacturers did internal pathogen testing anymore since its preferred to outsource these types of services. In terms of whether this would be acceptable for your facility by FDA-FSMA or SQF, neither one of the two regulators indicate in their guidelines that this practice would be unacceptable.

 

The question that would come up during an audit or inspection would be the programs and GMPs that you have in place to ensure there is no cross-contamination between the three facilities and in your process. Also, the proficiency testing should be adequate to validate your micro program as long as it is being conducted through an accredited lab.

 

I would also highly recommend the use of a negative control each time that you are running a test. I hope that this helps.