ATP meter validation SOP

Hello,

We want to add ATP-meter method to validate the cleaning for the food contact areas but we need to know how to conduct this validation.

There is some SOP to share please or any advices that can help?

How many samples we have to tests? before and after cleaning? how to identify the limits?

The activity of the company is bakery and our product is RTE.

Thank you for your answers

Hi ;) 

ATP machine 

- machine comes with instruction 

ultrasnap-instructions-en.pdf this is just an example. 

Equipment risk assessment 

- you need equipment risk assessment (Ease of access versus build-up of debris) 

- in the bakery, you shouldn't have that much to asses (mixers, dough containers etc - but I don't know your equipment and your products 

Generally, the manufacturer of the ATP luminometer provides starting information on how to establish limits for your particular product type. I would advise looking to the manufacturer website, as well as reading the product manual.

Hygiena has a learning center that may provide useful resources for you: https://www.hygiena....earning-center 

Using the manufacturer of the unit and swabs is a good start.  To answer your questions....

- How many samples we have to test? 

This will be based on the frequency of cleaning and/or pre-operational inspections.  

- Before and after cleaning? 

You can perform before cleaning swabs to benchmark and see what levels are coming back as.  After cleaning is the intended process to verify that your cleaning program is operating is achieving the desired results.  

- How to identify the limits? 

Since units and swabs can vary from one brand to another the best method is to establish limits through ongoing testing.  Come up with a list of your equipment you would want to swab for ATP, start swabbing, and start to look at the RLU results.  You are going to be performing this testing on a very frequent basis at first, directly after cleaning and before the sanitizing step.  Once you have some data collected you can review and see what the max level RLU you are receiving from each piece of equipment or surface.