Timothy Jackson

Management of Microbiological Hazards: Role of Testing as Verification

Microbiological testing programs play an important role in the verification of the effectiveness of control measures for many food products. Such programs may include monitoring of the production environment and processing equipment, and testing of raw materials, in-process and finished products. The relevance and application of testing programs depend upon the design of the product and process, the hygienic status of the processing environment and the availability of other verification information about a product lot. The design and implementation of environmental monitoring programs consider the areas of product exposure and the potential impact of the movement of people, materials and product on product contamination. Raw material testing programs consider the inherent risk of the material, its use in the process and the confidence in the supplier determined by supplier audits and ongoing performance. Finished product testing programs consider customer and regulatory requirements and the hygienic status of the process and production environment. Due to statistical and temporal limitations, microbiological testing programs are most effective when used along with risk-based preventive controls, such as HACCP, hygienic zoning and other prerequisite programs, and when they work together with other verification activities to assess the condition of a food safety system.