Hi Vasilis,
Thank you for your question! BRC is quite general about their requirements regarding specific organisms to test for. This leaves it up to your facility to perform a risk assessment to determine which pathogens or indicator organisms are the highest risk for your particular product or facility.
Here's a bit of what BRC says regarding environmental monitoring: "1.1.10 (ii) The presence of an environmental pathogen or appropriate indicator organism detected through the environmental monitoring conducted in accordance with § 117.165(a)(3). (2) The corrective action procedures must describe the steps to be taken to ensure that: (i) Appropriate action is taken to identify and correct a problem that has occurred with implementation of a preventive control; (ii) Appropriate action is taken, when necessary, to reduce the likelihood that the problem will recur; (iii) All affected food is evaluated for safety; and (iv) All affected food is prevented from entering into commerce..."
We recommend regular testing via swabs or contact plates for any high risk areas. Regular surface testing can help provide trend analyses, telling users when and where certain types of microorganisms are likely to occur. Testing can also help ensure that your control procedures are working effectively. Microbial analysis can identify bacteria, yeast, and mold present on surfaces. If any growth is detected, you can then perform further identification.
At Trace Analytics we offer phenotypic identification which can tell you the genus and species of the microorganism found. You can then perform remediation as needed.
Learn more about environmental testing options with a third party accredited laboratory here. https://www.aircheck...g/surface-swab/