Hygenia Indicator Organism Testing
Happy Friday,
Im looking into recreating the zone 1 testing at my facility. Currently, I believe we are over-testing zone 1 by doing 10 swabs (in rooms where there is only 1 piece of equipment with minimal zone 1 areas). Im trying to decide between lowering the number of tests to 3-4 for zone 1 or transitioning over to in-house testing with Hygiena products. Currently we are sending 3M Sponges to a lab practically on the other side of the country. For zone 1 we are paying for APC, coliform and salmonella. We have NEVER had salmonella appear in zone 1 2 3 or 4 in the past 2 years but will continue to test for it in zone 2 and 3 for industry standards. Im trying to adjust the budget so we can do more frequent testing in zones to cover more of the facility. My question is, would using a Total Viable Count Hygiena Test for zone 1 be a good replacement for the current program? Are these products reliable? My plan would be if there is any positive TVC swab in zone 1 then we immediately sanitize and intensify testing for that room (ie - Coliform and salmonella testing). What experiences to you have with Hygiena Microsnap Products (other than ATP testing). Thank you!
Happy Friday,
Im looking into recreating the zone 1 testing at my facility. Currently, I believe we are over-testing zone 1 by doing 10 swabs (in rooms where there is only 1 piece of equipment with minimal zone 1 areas). Im trying to decide between lowering the number of tests to 3-4 for zone 1 or transitioning over to in-house testing with Hygiena products. Currently we are sending 3M Sponges to a lab practically on the other side of the country. For zone 1 we are paying for APC, coliform and salmonella. We have NEVER had salmonella appear in zone 1 2 3 or 4 in the past 2 years but will continue to test for it in zone 2 and 3 for industry standards. Im trying to adjust the budget so we can do more frequent testing in zones to cover more of the facility. My question is, would using a Total Viable Count Hygiena Test for zone 1 be a good replacement for the current program? Are these products reliable? My plan would be if there is any positive TVC swab in zone 1 then we immediately sanitize and intensify testing for that room (ie - Coliform and salmonella testing). What experiences to you have with Hygiena Microsnap Products (other than ATP testing). Thank you!
I stopped doing micros on zone 1 years ago, and I'm glad I did. I use Hygenia pro snaps, and you get an instant go/no go on clean, so I can have my guys re-clean if needed during the weekend. What happens if you get a hit on a zone 1 swab, and you've run production the last 5 days while you've been waiting for your results? You basically have to assume all that product is dirty. Not good.
All this depends on what you make, how you make it, etc of course. What's right for my place isn't right for everyone. But I do Hygenia swabs on zone 1, zone 2 I test for Listeria, Salmonella, Enterobac, and Y&M, zone 3 I do Listeria and Salmonella, and Zone 4 are investigative only. All this also depends on the body of evidence you've built up over the years. My auditors tell me I over test considering what we make, and I have 15 years of clean results to show.
Hello,
I do not test for pathogens on Zone 1 but I am looking at the Hygenia MicroSnap for zone 1 and Zone 2 sanitation verification. Swabs would be taken after sanitation to show that our surfaces are clean. We are a small company and I am worried about the "lab" part. Do you have a separate location to do the hygenia testing? By separate i mean a building that is not in the same facility? i am wondering if my office would suffice for testing if i have processes proving that we are keeping the testing separate and that the swabs would not be able to contaminate anything else. Do you think that my office is ok? It is restricted access? Or even the conference room?
Happy Friday,
Im looking into recreating the zone 1 testing at my facility. Currently, I believe we are over-testing zone 1 by doing 10 swabs (in rooms where there is only 1 piece of equipment with minimal zone 1 areas). Im trying to decide between lowering the number of tests to 3-4 for zone 1 or transitioning over to in-house testing with Hygiena products. Currently we are sending 3M Sponges to a lab practically on the other side of the country. For zone 1 we are paying for APC, coliform and salmonella. We have NEVER had salmonella appear in zone 1 2 3 or 4 in the past 2 years but will continue to test for it in zone 2 and 3 for industry standards. Im trying to adjust the budget so we can do more frequent testing in zones to cover more of the facility. My question is, would using a Total Viable Count Hygiena Test for zone 1 be a good replacement for the current program? Are these products reliable? My plan would be if there is any positive TVC swab in zone 1 then we immediately sanitize and intensify testing for that room (ie - Coliform and salmonella testing). What experiences to you have with Hygiena Microsnap Products (other than ATP testing). Thank you!
whats the frequency of testing zones 1-4?
if you do it monthly i would suggest keep doing 10 swabs until you get desired results
zone 1&2 i.e., low TPC/ACC/APC/SPC, & E.coli/coliform (Q-TIP SWABS - 10 ML DE BROTH). record all the observations in excel make a trend chart.
Once you notice the sanitation has been effective then you can lower the testing from 10 swabs to 2-4 swabs.
you should test for salmonella & listeria in all zones (depending on the risk) (3M Spongestick)
ATP testing - i have had experience with that, but i think hygiena microsnap works in the same way it tests for TVC instead of atp but for both you dont need to send samples to the lab (which saves cost and time) both are good for testing zones 1,2.
Hello,
I do not test for pathogens on Zone 1 but I am looking at the Hygenia MicroSnap for zone 1 and Zone 2 sanitation verification. Swabs would be taken after sanitation to show that our surfaces are clean. We are a small company and I am worried about the "lab" part. Do you have a separate location to do the hygenia testing? By separate i mean a building that is not in the same facility? i am wondering if my office would suffice for testing if i have processes proving that we are keeping the testing separate and that the swabs would not be able to contaminate anything else. Do you think that my office is ok? It is restricted access? Or even the conference room?
after swabs are taken, testing should be done in a separate area. i believe your office is outside processing area which should be okay just make sure you are following temperature and other specific constraints related to Hygenia MicroSnap.