8 replies to this topic

[SafeFoodQ1]

We recently were audited and one of the major findings listed we had no written protocol on how often air should be tested for what organisms. There was also no criteria for pass and fail, corrective action and verification. Can someone provide an example to correct this finding? 

[Charles.C]

We recently were audited and one of the major findings listed we had no written protocol on how often air should be tested for what organisms. There was also no criteria for pass and fail, corrective action and verification. Can someone provide an example to correct this finding? 

 

Hi SafeFood,

 

Based on other SQF threads, auditors usually only want a basic response to this aspect. They are not normally interested in what bacterial species exist in the air other than total plate counts/yeast-mould counts and the like ??.

 

Can you clarify -

 

(1) which specific clause ?

(2) kind of product/process ?

[Ryan H.]

SafeFood: I can confirm the above. Bacteria and fungi (Y + M) are what you would be testing for. 

 

Is this for compressed air? 

 

SQF?

[Ryan H.]

What i stated above would be for compressed air

 

Charles stated the environmental monitoring testing for air. Sorry, mis read your thread title and went striaght to compressed air stuff! 

[SafeFoodQ1]

2.4.8.2 The responsibility and methods for the environmental monitoring program shall be documented and implemented.

 

The products are RTE and Frozen sandwiches, wraps, and meal kits. The auditor believed our air quality counts for yeast and mold were too high and should be tested more frequently.

[012117]

Agree with post # 2 and #3 (Y+M). Do you have action limits or do you do trend analysis or do you just take sample for monitoring? What we normally practice is if we have high counts or our trend is increasing, we investigate then increase the sampling. If we are confident with what we have, we perform weekly monitoring. This is coupled with the fact that we verify on a frequency-defined basis what we have thought of that could affect Y+M in air (e.g filter ok, air handling unit ok, cleaning was performed and verified as planned, etc..)

[SafeFoodQ1]

Are there acceptable limits on air quality in a room?

[Charles.C]

Are there acceptable limits on air quality in a room?

 

None which are Universally applied.

 

The classic response to yr auditor is to install a "sterile" air filter which guarantees acceptable air.

 

A large compilation of "answers" can be found in this post /Excel/attachments and surrounding thread -

 

http://www.ifsqn.com...ent/#entry81054

 

But the data typically expected by SQF is as already discussed in this thread, ie not much.

[mgourley]

As with all things "it depends".

Depending on where you are located and what your product mix is, what is "acceptable" may vary.

 

The products we get mold complaints from customers on are buns/rolls. We are in Florida. It's hot and humid in the summer months. We have a third party come in and do air samples in the production areas each month from May to October. They say "there is no excessive molds or yeast" in the air samples. 
Still, during those months we increase the frequency of stripping off product contact conveyor belts for cleaning.
 

This year we have not had a single mold complaint, probably because we take the time and expense to clean our product contact Intralox belting every two weeks and set up an in place pressure washer and alcohol sanitizer sprayer on our hairpin cooler.

Last year all of our air monitoring results came back negative, but we had several mold complaints on finished product prior to it's Best By date. So obviously that's a function of mold spores on the equipment, not necessarily in the air sampling areas.

You just have to monitor, look at customer complaints, and determine how to change your cleaning practices. Again, just because your air samples are "negative" or "not conducive" to mold growth, does not mean your product mix or physical location are not.

 

Marshall