Environmental Monitoring BRC V8 Low Risk, Dry Product

Hi,

We are a tea manufacturer, with a product moisture of <3%, dry cleaning only.

We only have 1 small belt on one line that the product directly touches, the rest of production is non contact and closed in.

My question, what swabbing would be advisable? I was looking into the Hygiena pro clean rapid hygiene monitoring swabs, would this test be enough to validate.. and should we test for salmonella and listeria with the level of low moisture?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks

Salmonella is associated with low moisture products so IMO it would still be sensible to do some swabbing for this (and probably belt and braces Listeria too).  It's cheap to get it tested properly in a micro lab so I wouldn't cut corners but I'd stick the frequency at once per month, say, with perhaps a few other environment swabs, hands, you could spend the equivalent of only a few hundred pounds a year and have some due diligence.

Hi,

 

We are a tea manufacturer, with a product moisture of <3%, dry cleaning only.

 

We only have 1 small belt on one line that the product directly touches, the rest of production is non contact and closed in.

 

My question, what swabbing would be advisable? I was looking into the Hygiena pro clean rapid hygiene monitoring swabs, would this test be enough to validate.. and should we test for salmonella and listeria with the level of low moisture?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

 

Thanks

SQF tend to have their own expectations.

There are several SQF threads on this forum for food/EMPG if you do a little searching.

The choice of hazards/indicators may relate to the process also. Just blending ??

Hi HACCPCOR,

This thread is posted in the SQF Food section, though the title mentions BRC - which is it?  :huh:

I'm not familiar with tea manufacture though some reading (paper link below) has suggested that - as well as the process type as Charles mentioned - the type of tea may also be a factor in determining a suitable environmental monitoring program. What types of tea/tisane do you make?

https://www.ncbi.nlm...pubmed/24789759

Hi,

 

We are a tea manufacturer, with a product moisture of <3%, dry cleaning only.

 

We only have 1 small belt on one line that the product directly touches, the rest of production is non contact and closed in.

 

My question, what swabbing would be advisable? I was looking into the Hygiena pro clean rapid hygiene monitoring swabs, would this test be enough to validate.. and should we test for salmonella and listeria with the level of low moisture?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

 

Thanks

Hi

Normally target organisms for environment monitoring. ref. BRC food  These may include specific pathogens that present a risk to the product or environment (e.g. Listeria spp in wet environments or Enterobacteriacae in dry environments), specific spoilage organisms (e.g. yeast or mould) or indicator organisms (e.g. total plate count, total coliforms)

Your product is dried one in that case Enterobacteriacae, total Coliforms but again it always based on your internal risk assessment

moisture less than 3% do you only do dust?  

Herbal Teas etc. have a history...https://www.foodsafe...almonella-risk/