Food companies and regulators have become increasingly vigilant for environmental pathogens in manufacturing facilities, with problems triggering swab-a-thons and even recalls.

Part 2 of what processors expect to focus on in the year 2020.  

Are you required to perform environmental monitoring under the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Preventive Controls for Human Food rule? It depends.

Trending environmental monitoring data can help with a root-cause analysis to uncover the origins of the positive finding and may inform the mitigation strategy.

For ready-to-eat food processors, developing and implementing pathogen environmental monitoring programs are important parts of their sanitation controls.

The MegaSampler, a sponge on a stiff plastic rod, does an excellent job of sampling both large and small surfaces in the food production facility with minimal effort.  

Sanitation verification systems using ATP are standard methods for evaluating and monitoring sanitation efficacy at food production and foodservice organizations.

The number of reported incidents and recalls related to Listeria and L. monocytogenes has been increasing, and processors are making efforts to rid their facilities of harborage organisms and sites.

In the course of foodborne listeriosis outbreak investigations, a breakdown in plant sanitation is frequently cited as the root cause.