What do your compressed air testing programs look like?
Hello everyone,
I am currently taking over the environmental program at my facility but don't have too much experience on compressed air.
In the past we have been using a 3rd party lab to test every 4 months with ranges less than or equal to 10 CFU for Aerobic plate count, Yeast, and Mold.
I tested last week and got results that were way higher than that and i was wondering if my ranges made sense or if it had to do with the fact that in the past they used sponge testing and this time i used plates. Can someone help me out?
What do your compressed air programs look like?
Thank you
First, does your compressed air come in contact with the product? If yes, it definitely should be tested for micro. Second, testing for APC (or TPC) is not much representing if you're producing for example fermented dairy products as you'd get high count which would include all alive microorganisms including, for example, bacterial culture cells. I would recommend to replace APC with Total Coliform at least. Third, 10 cfu/g seems to me too low for Y&M (though, it's up to you to establish a range basing on hazard analysis of your production environment). In our fermented dairy product manufacturing, we've established a range for Y&M: in product less/equal 50 cfu, in air less/equal 100 cfu, method MFHPB-22.
First, does your compressed air come in contact with the product? If yes, it definitely should be tested for micro. Second, testing for APC (or TPC) is not much representing if you're producing for example fermented dairy products as you'd get high count which would include all alive microorganisms including, for example, bacterial culture cells. I would recommend to replace APC with Total Coliform at least. Third, 10 cfu/g seems to me too low for Y&M (though, it's up to you to establish a range basing on hazard analysis of your production environment). In our fermented dairy product manufacturing, we've established a range for Y&M: in product less/equal 50 cfu, in air less/equal 100 cfu, method MFHPB-22.
Yes, I test 3 sections of the facility that come in contact with the product. We are a frozen dough and frozen bread products bakery