Food Equipment Cleaning Validation

According to the Pew Initiative and the Safe Foods Coalition, food-borne illness has an estimated cost of over $150 billion each year. Other studies show higher figures, up to $1.4 trillion annually.  Food-borne illness is clearly an expensive problem that is impacted by the food equipment cleaning validation techniques employed.

Poor plant and equipment sanitation has been ranked as one of the top five food safety problems, which correlates food safety and good sanitation.

It is the role of the food industry to produce products that are safe for consumption.  Biological, chemical and physical cleanliness is an absolute requirement for food safety.  Hazards that can contaminate food include previously manufactured products and their ingredients (which may include allergens), microorganisms and their toxins, lubricants and residues from disinfection and cleaning.   Ancillary and process equipment needs effective and regular cleaning to ensure the control of these hazards and prevent contamination of our food supply.

Traditional methods of food equipment cleaning validation include microbial assays and visual inspection.  However, these techniques have limitations.  Microbial analysis usually requires at least two days to complete, and there are many types of microorganisms that cannot be detected by common analysis such as aerobic plate count (APC).  Visual inspection only detects gross levels of residues that are visible to the naked eye and not trace residue levels.

Using deep UV fluorescence techniques, Photon Systems handheld detectors are capable of detecting trace organic residues as low as pg/cm2 and biological contamination less than hundreds of cells or spores.  Contact us today to learn how these unique instruments can be used for food equipment cleaning validation.