Grade - Active
Posted 04 September 2025 - 09:15 PM
Hello,
My facility wants to revise our environmental monitoring program based on the sites that get swabbed pre heat treatment to our product and post heat treatment. What is a generally acceptable level for APC, EB, and Yeast/Mold for pre and post heat treatment? Would it be something around 5,000 cfu/swab or 10,000 cfu/swab? What would be the rationale behind choosing these levels?
Grade - FIFSQN
Posted 05 September 2025 - 03:32 AM
Hi oahr1996,
Levels are usually quoted per cm2.
See the Micro. Guidelines for Food Contact Surfaces forum here.
https://www.ifsqn.co...ces/#entry60958
The late great Charles C, posted a Compilation of International Micro. Guidelines for food contact surfaces, 2000 onwards
Kind regards,
Tony
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Grade - FIFSQN
Posted 05 September 2025 - 04:14 AM
A question. Why are you swabbing pre heat treatment?
I had a site a long time ago using root vegetables and they were swabbing surfaces where there was still soil and trying to come up with a corrective action for a high swab count. I couldn't convince the TM nor group that swabbing in that location was pointless.
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25 years in food. And it never gets easier.
Grade - PIFSQN
Posted 11 September 2025 - 06:58 PM
Hello,
My facility wants to revise our environmental monitoring program based on the sites that get swabbed pre heat treatment to our product and post heat treatment. What is a generally acceptable level for APC, EB, and Yeast/Mold for pre and post heat treatment? Would it be something around 5,000 cfu/swab or 10,000 cfu/swab? What would be the rationale behind choosing these levels?
Like GMO I'm wondering why you would bother to regularly test the pre-lethality area?
As a ballpark range 5-10k for Y/M and APC are values I've seen in a few places. In some ways it depends on your product, shelf life, etc. what is tolerable.
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