BRC V9 and Hygiena Environmental Monitoring

Hi,

Did you have any adverse experiance with having enviromental monitoring completed by Hygiena in-house rather than sending swabs to external laboratory.

What did auditors say?

I am considering moving our 3rd party testing to Hygiena in-house. its not a lot, its 40 points for Listeria per month as we are small operation. We would validate the actual Hygiena swabs against 3rd paty lab for reassurance.

Finished Products will be tested by 3rd party lab.

Thanks 

Hi,

 

Did you have any adverse experiance with having enviromental monitoring completed by Hygiena in-house rather than sending swabs to external laboratory.

 

What did auditors say?

 

I am considering moving our 3rd party testing to Hygiena in-house. its not a lot, its 40 points for Listeria per month as we are small operation. We would validate the actual Hygiena swabs against 3rd paty lab for reassurance.

 

Finished Products will be tested by 3rd party lab.

 

Thanks 

Hi KingaZ,

40 points ??

We are required to test environmental Listeria samples through an accredited laboratory under our food regulations. There are lots to consider if you want to move this testing programme in house

- what's the accuracy of the in-house method comparing with your existing method

- how do you validate every batch of in-house testing

- how often will you send samples to 3rd party to confirm validity of your in-house test method 

Hi. It depends on your customer requirements. Most of our customer requirements are – 3^rd party or own UKAS accredited lab. What are the benefits of carrying out your own tests?

Are you talking purchasing the Hygenia BAX system (or similar) and testing for pathogens in house as opposed to sending them to a lab?

I don't believe anything in BRC standard that would not allow this.   However, as other have stated there are other considerations that others brought up.   also see 5.6.2 

I have a facility with similar technology.   they are SQF certified and have had no issues.   

Although not required by BRC I would review the 17025 requirements and follow them as applicable.