Verification/Validation for Alcohol Sanitizer?
We have an auditor insisting that we use test strips to verify the ppm of our Alpet Sanitizer (which I disagree with). We are a dry clean up operation and Alpet is the only Sanitizer that we use. The auditor issued a non-conformance against the validation/verification requirement. What is the best way to meet the validation/verification requirement for this?
a. you can use materials provided by the manufacturer
b. verification will be done thru doing tests.
Based on what you say in your posting I would agree with the Auditor.
Since you use it to clean your equipment then you do need to verify & validate. I'm curious to know why you disagree with the auditor? Get test strips and to verify sanitizer is correct ppm. Also your swabbing will be a good indicator your sanitizer is doing a good job.
a. you can use materials provided by the manufacturer
b. verification will be done thru doing tests.
Based on what you say in your posting I would agree with the Auditor.
I am not familiar with verifying the ppm of alcohol sanitizer. What test method would you recommend? Are there test strips for testing alcohol sanitizer? Thanks Glenn!
Since you use it to clean your equipment then you do need to verify & validate. I'm curious to know why you disagree with the auditor? Get test strips and to verify sanitizer is correct ppm. Also your swabbing will be a good indicator your sanitizer is doing a good job.
I disagree because I have never heard of using a test strip for alcohol sanitizer. Please share any test methods you are aware of for alcohol sanitizer. Thank you!
I think you have to validate two things here, 1 the sanitation process, that you can validate doing a swap, then 2) that there is no sanitizer residue left in the equipment, to do this you can measure the ppm of the chemical used and ensure is the right one, and there is auditor point.
>>>(I'm assuming you are talking about a sanitizing of "equipment" (?) even when you say Alcohol? or is this to use in hands? not sure. If you are talking about hand sanitizer then you do not need to validate or measure ppm since is alcohol and I'm sure employee use gloves so there is no bare hands food contact (?), definitely need more info about all this)
I think you are validating your process (doing swap) but not taking in account if there is any residue in the equipment.
I disagree because I have never heard of using a test strip for alcohol sanitizer. Please share any test methods you are aware of for alcohol sanitizer. Thank you!
My apologies, I didn't see you wrote "alcohol" . I personally never heard of test strips done to them either. What I know is you are testing the % alcohol not ppm.
I found this:
Just one question. As I was googling, I saw that this sanitizer that you use is alcohol/quat based. Is that correct?
Are you using the quat-free or the standard formulation?
I just got off the phone with Best Sanitizers, who informed me that verifying the concentration of either formulation in the field is difficult, and especially so with the quat-free (which we use in our dry sanitation operations). As it comes from the manufacturer pre-mixed and ready to use, the rep I spoke to stated that so long as the product is used within its shelf life and stored properly, there isn't any real room for variance in the concentration stated on the product label. I'd recommend reaching out to them directly for CoAs and any other written guarantees you might need; they're quite helpful and seem well-informed.
Keep us posted on how this goes over with your auditor! We're a week out from our own SQF audit and I expect this issue to come up for us as well.