Food Contact Compressed Air Purity
Hello - As I reivew the Edition 9 Food manufacturing requirement in SQF regarding compressed air testing, I'm reading that : Quotes from code:
- 11.5.5.1: Compressed air or other gases (e.g. nitrogen or carbon dioxide) that contact food or food contact surfaces shall be clean and present no risk to food safety.
- 11.5.5.2: Compressed air systems and systems used to store or dispense other gases that come into contact with food or food contact surfaces shall be maintained and regularly monitored for quality and applicable food safety hazards. The frequency of analysis shall be risk-based and at a minimum annually.
The things to test for are listed here:
- A program that includes particles, water, oil, microorganism, and gases in compressed air and other gases. A verification of effectiveness of compressor maintenance and filtration a management facility has in place
So, my question is, every informational link on testing in the code leads to a company called Trace Analytics. Their website offers "SQF compliance" by using their services to test your food contact compressed air. Is this true and legitimate or more of a document sponsored by the company Trace Analytics advertising their business? And, is the requirement to test my compressed air, which directly contacts glass food packaging, to test for particles, water, oil, microorganisms, and "other gases"?
1. Where can I find the standards for each category?
2. What are "other gases"? Do I test for any gases not found in clean air? Thank you in advance for your help!
I think the intent of "other gases" would be something like pure nitrogen as a packaging flush for atmospherically sealed products. You would test your nitrogen, or more likely get a CoC from the manufacturer.
Ok - thanks. I don't believe that would pertain to us, since we are using filtered compressed atmospheric air.
If I don't need to worry about other gases. I just need to understand whether we need to sample our filtered compressed air out for testing for oil, water, and particles, then.
Hello - As I reivew the Edition 9 Food manufacturing requirement in SQF regarding compressed air testing, I'm reading that : Quotes from code:
- 11.5.5.1: Compressed air or other gases (e.g. nitrogen or carbon dioxide) that contact food or food contact surfaces shall be clean and present no risk to food safety.
- 11.5.5.2: Compressed air systems and systems used to store or dispense other gases that come into contact with food or food contact surfaces shall be maintained and regularly monitored for quality and applicable food safety hazards. The frequency of analysis shall be risk-based and at a minimum annually.
The things to test for are listed here:
- A program that includes particles, water, oil, microorganism, and gases in compressed air and other gases. A verification of effectiveness of compressor maintenance and filtration a management facility has in place
So, my question is, every informational link on testing in the code leads to a company called Trace Analytics. Their website offers "SQF compliance" by using their services to test your food contact compressed air. Is this true and legitimate or more of a document sponsored by the company Trace Analytics advertising their business? And, is the requirement to test my compressed air, which directly contacts glass food packaging, to test for particles, water, oil, microorganisms, and "other gases"?
1. Where can I find the standards for each category?
2. What are "other gases"? Do I test for any gases not found in clean air? Thank you in advance for your help!
Hi ORF,
Other than yr bolded text, above clauses in sqf9 looks same as SQF8.1.
I suggest a perusal of the 2 Pages of SQF8.1 Guidance on these clauses.
Yr Qu 1 is answered (variously) by the files/excel in this Post + surrounding thread -
https://www.ifsqn.co...ent/#entry81054
PS - Trace Analytics are one of the sponsors of this forum, ie -