Environmental research and hygiene monitoring for food safety

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) is imposing increasingly strict safety and hygiene requirements for food producers. New standards should reduce the potential risk of (subsequent) contamination. Periodic inspection of the production equipment and environment is therefore necessary.

With a background at Eurofins Food Feed and Water testing, Mirna Kats is certainly not unfamiliar with this subject. She now works as an account manager at Boom, a supplier of laboratory supplies. In this article you can read all about environmental research and hygiene monitoring at food producers, and what useful tools Boom has for this.

Why is environmental research so important?

The NVWA standards are stricter, and regular environmental inspections guarantee hygiene within food production. “Through periodic checks you can quickly see whether there is a contamination, for example with listeria, legionella or salmonella bacteria.”

Did you know that disease-causing bacteria are the number two reason for recalls? Number one is incorrect allergen information on labels. 

Starting production with clean equipment prevents (subsequent) contamination. After all, contaminated products must be recalled. That has a big impact: they have to be destroyed, that is food waste. Cleaning the production line – after proactive testing – can prevent contamination.

How does hygiene monitoring work?

There are various tests to measure the hygiene of the environment. Microbiological checks are often used, but these only show results the next day. A bad result means the recall of a batch. Naturally, we want to produce sustainably and waste little food.

“Boom offers various types of test and measuring equipment for laboratories. For food safety, the most popular are the ATP meter (adenosine triphosphate meter), and DIY kits (do it yourself) to quickly test for allergens.”

Environmental research in four ways:

Microbiological checks: frequently used; take a little longer.

ATP meters: testing with a swab; results within seconds.

Protein measurements: visible in no time whether there are still allergens present in the production line.

DIY tests: ideal for internal quality control; easy to use.

ATP meters for environmental research

All cells of bacteriological, plant or animal origin contain the energy carrier ATP. An ATP meter measures the amount of product residue left behind. “Take a sample with a swab for a surface or water test. Place the sample in the ATP meter. The advantage of this is that you get results within a few seconds,” says Mirna. The meter is compact and easy to use: specially designed for the production environment.

“The test is really for the producer himself. You can see within a few seconds whether the production line and environment have been properly cleaned. The meter indicates the number of units; so you can immediately read whether it is outside or inside the standard.” If it is within the standard, you still send the samples to an accredited lab, which will then record in an analysis certificate that the hygiene is within the standard.

Protein measurements for allergens

Protein measurements also contribute to food safety within the food industry. They are extremely suitable for an allergen protocol. These highly sensitive tests show with a color reaction that no proteins are present after cleaning. All types of allergens have then been removed, for example milk, nuts, peanuts and gluten.

DIY kits for quick testing

These tests are specially designed to check the presence of proteins, cleaning-in-place (CIP), i.e. in the final rinse water, environmental samples, food ingredients or food products. “Very useful, because everyone can use them. You can quickly see for yourself whether there are still allergens after cleaning the production line and equipment.” Ideal for your own quality control.

Getting started with environmental research and hygiene monitoring

In addition to these testing options, general hygiene is also important: wash hands thoroughly, wear gloves and hairnets. So complete your hygiene monitoring. We do everything we can to maintain high hygiene, quality and safety within the food industry. And to prevent food waste.