1 reply to this topic

[Stacys]

We recently had an audit, and they said that we cannot have a range for E.coli testing for environmental testing in HZ1. We are a dry food manufacturing facility (cake mixes, flour, hot cocoa etc.) that uses indicator organisms for the testing process. The range we had was <10cfu or less and no greater that <20cfu. I am at a lost on what to do as this has been our standard for over 4yrs. and no other audit called it out. I have been looking for guidance and most say it is up to the company. 

 

Can anyone help us

 

Stacy 

[kconf]

You certainly do not want any E.coli in zone 1. However, I can see why your lab is reporting it <10 even when there is none on petri dish. It is due to dilution factor. 

 

Have you ever had any results that were not reported <10? You should specify your range as none or <10 in your guidance.

 

You could also ask your lab to test at a higher dilution, which then would result in <1 on your report when no growth detected.

 

I hope this helps!