Adopting a couple different methods of verification, such as ATP swabs and microbial testing, done in a couple dozen strategic locations throughout your plant, should suffice to verify that your plant has been properly cleaned and sanitized, says 3M Food Safety’s Camila Gadotti.
“A good training program needs to address why are we doing this, what is the reason and rationale behind the training. The WHY is as important as WHAT we need to do. Often times, trainers are great auditors, but bad trainers.” – Eurofins’ Gary Smith.
Although commonly overlooked, microbiological method validation studies are the linchpins of entire quality programs, and method validations done without rigor are crippling our industry’s ability to truly ensure the quality and safety of foods on a daily basis.
False positive results (in which a sample that does not contain pathogens is incorrectly shown as positive) are a nuisance. But false negative test results—which fail to detect true pathogenic organisms in the sample—are just not unacceptable.
From real time PCR to today’s next-generation sequencing, evolving molecular diagnostic technologies are shaping how food is tested and innovation in food development.
Why are LIMS solutions important against the backdrop of increasing testing and regulation in the food industry? – An interview with Core Informatics’ Anthony Uzzo.
While the first application of molecular methods for food could be attributed to the invention of the genetically modified corn plant, wide adoption of these technologies was ushered in through use in detecting food borne pathogens.
How will food labs meet the demands of the future? What role will FSMA regulations play? And how are labs dealing with globalization of the food chain?
Thermo Fisher Scientific’s LIMS expert, Colin Thurston, explains how laboratory informatics can help food labs cope with large amounts of data as well as regulatory compliance.
From increasing use of rapid micro methods, to greater concern over Salmonella, a number of dynamics are at play that present both opportunities and minefields for players in this field.
