Environmental Monitoring and Sampling

Hello, I am looking for areas to clean for a low risk Candy/Confection & Nut Company. We currently are testing APC- Temp AC & Enterobacteriaceae  sp. tempo EB; we are also doing a monthly Salmonella and Listeria testing. I just feel that I am missing some areas of the facility that i should get checked? Normally i have conveyors, walls, floors, drains, but am looking for a variety of things to test? 

Hi, 

At our (meat processing) plant we use Listeria swabs, and ATP swabs for our environmental monitoring. Places we will swab: EMPLOYEE HANDS (this is a fun one, because it allows you in involve staff and you get to explain what you are doing), hands tools (knives, tools used on machines), machine control panels, containers for holding product, door handles?, scales, pallet jack handles (if you use them/)

I chose areas to swab after observing employees work, and watching what objects they touched the most. This will also depend on what you are swabbing, and what your target zones are. I listed some of my more creative places I've swabbed. We use ATP for cleaning verification- so anything is fair game. For my Listeria swabbing, I am targeting indirect food contact surfaces (so not a direct contact, but mostly objects/surfaces they touch while filling pockets.) 

I hope some of this is helpful!

i personnally believe that prior to starting a EMP program one should tour the facility, map everything, and consider areas to test.   once all areas/ equipment  are recorded you can evaluate / assign risk,  identify organisms of concern for  that area, and determine frequency.  create a risk assessment.    

I get nervous when people say or suggest - X number of samples a month with X percentage of them zone 1, 2, 3, 4.  i've personally seen people completely miss important areas.  

equipment and bases, hoppers, tanks, mixers, hands/gloves, hoses, tables, utensils, control panels, drip trays, screens, tools, brushes and brooms, pallet jacks / lifts, carts, (anything with wheels), bottoms of overhead doors, cafeterias / locker room bath room, storage areas, shops,  hair handling units and air.   

last facility i was in, we suggested they have a lab/sanitation company come in and map out the facility for various types of testing, etc.

What an eye opener that was, we thought we had everything covered and they discovered a number of areas and type of tests that we were not doing.

i personnally believe that prior to starting a EMP program one should tour the facility, map everything, and consider areas to test.   once all areas/ equipment  are recorded you can evaluate / assign risk,  identify organisms of concern for  that area, and determine frequency.  create a risk assessment.    

 

I get nervous when people say or suggest - X number of samples a month with X percentage of them zone 1, 2, 3, 4.  i've personally seen people completely miss important areas.  

 

equipment and bases, hoppers, tanks, mixers, hands/gloves, hoses, tables, utensils, control panels, drip trays, screens, tools, brushes and brooms, pallet jacks / lifts, carts, (anything with wheels), bottoms of overhead doors, cafeterias / locker room bath room, storage areas, shops,  hair handling units and air.   

 

This has been very well explained and given examples! Thank you so much!

Hello,

 

I am looking for areas to clean for a low risk Candy/Confection & Nut Company. We currently are testing APC- Temp AC & Enterobacteriaceae  sp. tempo EB; we are also doing a monthly Salmonella and Listeria testing. I just feel that i am missing some areas of the facility that i should get checked?

 

Normally i have conveyors, walls, floors, drains, but am looking for a variety of things to test? 

As indicated in Post 3, the typical solution is to devise a Zone sampling scheme for what I assume is a dry (?) process environment.

If you have ingredient risks, test around every area they are exposed mixed, poured and blown about.