Detailed information on food contact surface risk and control
Cleaning of food contact surfaces eliminates potential risks of food debris and microbial growth
What is a food contact surface?
“Food contact surfaceâ€, as the name implies, refers to the surface that is in direct or indirect contact with food, including utensils and the surface of equipment that comes into contact with food. The definition of "food contact surface" in GMP21 CFR part 110 of the United States refers to those surfaces that are in contact with human food surfaces and which will splash water on the surface of the food or in contact with the food during normal processing.
Food production and processing, food contact surfaces can be seen everywhere, according to the possible sources of food contamination, we usually divide the food contact surface into: direct contact with food and indirect contact with food.
The surfaces that are in direct contact are: air in the workshop, processing equipment, tools, consoles, transfer belts, storage tanks, inner packaging materials, hands of processing personnel or gloves and overalls, etc.;
Indirect contact surfaces include: cold storage without cleaning and disinfection, door handles for workshops, buttons for operating equipment, switches in the workshop, walls, etc.
Since the contact surface is a medium, part of it will inevitably migrate into the food. Therefore, the hygiene of the food contact surface will directly affect the hygiene of the production process. The cleanliness of food contact surfaces is closely related to the structure and materials of food contact surfaces; cleaning and disinfection methods and applications, and monitoring methods for sanitation, so these aspects are important factors in improving the hygiene and cleanliness of food contact surfaces.
First, the structure of the food contact surface
Structural design and installation: no rough welds, cracks, dents, surface slippage (including seams, corners and edges); no bad joints, corroded parts, exposed screws and nuts or other water can be trapped Or the place of the dirt, really the same as the table.
Purpose: To facilitate sanitary operation, wash and wash, maintenance, and maintenance meet the requirements of sanitary standards, as well as timely and adequate cleaning and disinfection.
However, we often find that some of the company's case boards are rugged, the welds are rough; the bottom of the table is dirty; the molds at the bottom of the conveyor belt breed, etc. These structural problems often cause the sanitary contact of the food contact surface to be inadequate. In the detection of food contact surfaces, it is not uncommon for pathogenic bacteria to be detected.
For example, the paste mixer of a certain aquatic product processing enterprise has too many bends in the design, and some areas have become sanitary corners and cannot be cleaned and disinfected thoroughly. The presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the detection of food contact surfaces has resulted in the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. The finished product also detected Listeria monocytogenes in the test, causing huge losses to the enterprise. Therefore, the design and installation of food contact surfaces are closely related to the cleanliness of food contact surfaces.
Second, the food contact surface material
The material on the food contact surface should be a "safe" material that meets the food safety and hygiene requirements. “Safe†materials mean: non-toxic (no chemical oozing), no water absorption (no water accumulation and/or drying), corrosion resistance, no chemical reaction with cleaning agents and disinfectants.
Requirements for contact with food products are:
Third, food contact surface cleaning and disinfection methods and applications
Cleaning and disinfection methods and the application of cleaning and disinfecting food contact surfaces are the basis for the control of pathogenic microorganisms.
1, cleaning and disinfection methods
1) Physical methods. Ozone disinfection, electronic sterilization, UV disinfection, etc. Meat processing plants should be preferred to clean and disinfect at 82 °C. Ozone and ultraviolet lamp disinfection are mostly for disinfection of production space or work clothes.
2) Chemical methods. Generally, chlorine-containing disinfectants such as sodium hypochlorite 100-150 mg/kg are used.
2, cleaning and disinfection procedures
When using chemical cleaning agents, it is generally divided into 5 to 6 steps:
3. Monitoring of food contact surface cleanliness
1) Subjects to be monitored: including the condition of the food contact surface; cleaning and disinfection of the food contact surface; the type and concentration of the disinfectant used; whether the gloves and outerwear that may come into contact with the food are clean and in good condition.
2) Monitoring methods include sensory, chemical, and verification tests.
Monitoring method | purpose | application | Description |
Sensory examination | The surface is in good condition, the surface has been cleaned and disinfected, and the gloves and outerwear are cleaned and well maintained. | Sensory inspection is a straightforward and effective way to check dark areas with strong light or other black light-free sources. | When the US FDA came to China to inspect the factory, it used a flashlight to check the hygienic condition of the food contact surface before the factory started. |
Chemical detection | Confirm that the concentration of the disinfectant meets the specified requirements (test strip or kit, chemical titration) | The test strip is the most commonly used method for determining the concentration of disinfectant. It has the advantages of fast, low cost, no need for laboratory equipment and chemical reagents, can be operated on site, and does not require too much training. | All disinfectants that are not used in processing plants have suitable test strips and are usually only estimated for the disinfectant concentration or concentration range. |
Verification check | It refers to the surface microbial detection . The detection methods mainly include contact plate, cotton swab smearing and luminescence method, which can regularly evaluate the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfection of the food contact surface of the factory. | Touch the plate as soon as it touches the surface to be inspected and then covers the protective cover, film or sleeve. After a few days of incubation, the number of colonies on the plate is a good indicator of the cleaning and disinfecting effect. | These methods are all microbiological detection methods, the detection process is relatively slow, and it is not possible to display problems and correct them in time before starting work. |
Wipe a certain area with a sterile face swab, transfer to liquid medium, and inoculate the culture. | |||
The luminescence method is based on the principle of enzymatic reaction of firefly light. During the test, the brightness of the light is proportional to the amount of bacteria and food debris on the surface. | Overcome the long-term weakness of microbiological detection methods, but in some cases, because of the food residue, the instrument displays a higher reading value, while the number of surface microorganisms is very low. |
3) Monitoring frequency
Sensory inspection frequency: Generally performed before, during and after the production. Hand washing disinfection is mainly carried out when the employee enters the workshop, comes out of the bathroom and during the processing.
Laboratory testing frequency: According to the sampling plan developed by the laboratory, generally 1 or 2 times a week. Although the monitoring period of the food contact surface is delayed due to the long period of microbial detection, on the basis of the summary statistics of the microbiological data, it is practical to explore a set of plans and schemes for the concentration and method of different cleaning and disinfecting reagents for different structural materials. feasible. It can be verified by microbiological testing, and the plan or plan can be dynamically adjusted according to the verification result, which can save the cost of the enterprise and improve the effectiveness of the clean and hygienic food contact surface, and protect the products that produce safe, healthy and healthy products.
Huan Kai provides a complete solution for microbiological testing of food contact surfaces
Required instrument reagent | Performance characteristics | Description of use | specification |
ATP fluorescence quantification | The total amount of microorganisms detected can reach 1.0 CFU/ml, and the result is 10 seconds. | Quickly detect the number of microorganisms on the contact surface. | 1 set |
PC006 Clean-ChekTM Surface Cleanliness Tester | The detection swab end contains reagents for reacting with the protein, mainly detecting the residual protein in the food sample; directly judging the result according to the change of the color of the test stick, and immediately outputting the result, no laboratory equipment is needed, and no culture is needed. | The degree of cleanliness of the food contact surface is monitored using the principle of chemical reaction. | 50 test bars (100 tests) |
060061 wet tableware coliform test paper | Open the bag and use it without wetting. Quantitative sampling, each piece of paper sampling area of ​​25cm2. According to the color of the paper colony interpretation results. | For rapid detection of surface coliforms. | 10 packs/box (10 pieces/pack) |
PC080 Path-Chek Hygene Listeria broth | After the test, according to the Path-Chek Hygiene L. monocytogenes test broth discoloration interpretation results, turned black positive, the results were recorded as detected; yellow or wheat straw color was negative, the results were recorded as undetected. | For the rapid detection of Listeria monocytogenes. | |
PC020 Path-Chek Hygene Salmonella Detection Broth | After the test, according to the Path-Chek Hygiene Salmonella test broth discoloration interpretation results, black was positive, the result was recorded as detection; yellow or purple was negative, the result was recorded as undetected. | For rapid detection of surface Salmonella. | |
028074P1 pancreatic soy meal agar medium (soybean casein agar medium) | Dehydrated granular type, environmentally friendly and dust-free; it is water-proof and does not stick to the wall. | It is used for the detection of sedimentary bacteria, floating bacteria and contact surface microorganisms in the production environment. | 250g / bottle |
021098P1 Sabouraud Dextrose Agar Medium | |||
CP0201J TSA contact dish (three-layer aseptic packaging) | The ready-to-use finished product can be sampled by directly opening the cover to the regular surface to be tested. After sampling, culture and read the results according to the standard requirements. | For contact surface microbial detection. | 55mm × 10, 25cm2 / dish sampling area |
CP0301J SDA contact dish (three-layer aseptic packaging) | |||
CP0101J NA contact dish (three layers of aseptic packaging) | |||
CP0202J TSA+β-lactamase contact dish (three-layer aseptic packaging) | |||
CP0204J TSAWLP contact dish (TSA + lecithin + Tween 80) (three layers of aseptic packaging) |
Work table (mechanical appliance) and worker hand surface contact dish sampling method
In the middle, some medium will protrude from the highest edge of the dish. The sampling process only needs to gently press the culture dish, so that the protruding part of the medium is in contact with the sampling point for a certain time, and then the lid is covered and cultured in the incubator.
Required reagents:
PC080 Path-Chek Hygene Listeria broth
PC020 Path-Chek Hygene Salmonella Detection Broth
Use operation diagram:
1, remove the swab
2, smear sampling
3, broken swab culture
4, the result of interpretation
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