DIFFERENT EQUIPMENT DIFFERENT CLEANING VALIDATION

Hi all,

I have doubts regarding cleaning validation in food processing plant. Lets say the plant is producing frozen foods , and got different types of machines at different areas, such as mixers (mixing area), cooker (cooking area), packing machine (packing area), where all these machines at these different areas in-contact with different form or state of products (powdered/paste/cooked), so my questions are:

1) must we validate at least 1 machine per area (the machine will represent all other machines in that area, or;

2) must we validate at least 1 machine per different types of product state (powdered/paste/cooked), or;

3) validate cleaning based on types of machine surface (conveyor belt/ conveyor chain/ stainless steel surface/ nylon surface), or;

4) validate cleaning based on cleaning process (CIP/COP), or;

5) validate just 1 machine, in example, the packing machine where there will be no more heat treatment on the product after packing.

Yes of course the objective for cleaning validation is to prove that the cleaning process and agent able to remove all types of hazards and prevent cross contamination.

TQIA for replies.

What you validating is the process, not the particular piece of equipment, so the process may change depending on soil type rather than machine 

I would swab before and after on random pieces of equipment for all types of products you listed........then you can validate that the cleaning process AND chemicals used are sufficient for the job

This could easily be ATP or TPC for cleaning (unless you need to validate allergen removal, then you'd need to use allergen specific tests) , you do not need to swab for indicator organisms to validate your cleaning process

Ensure that the concentration of chemicals is in the sweet spot before you begin AND the the cleaning agent(s) are being allowed enough penetration time before you start your validation

Out of curiosity, in frozen foods that need a final kill step by the end consumer----------why are you validating your process?  Have you got cleaning as a CCP?