Overview

As a food producer, you know that a sanitary environment is essential for the production of safe, high quality food products. This includes:

  • ensuring your cleaning and sanitizing programs are effective
  • verifying that all food soils have been removed and that invisible microorganisms causing spoilage or illness have been eliminated
  • understanding the difference between visually clean and microbiologically clean

We encourage you to develop your own environmental monitoring programs to regularly verify the effectiveness of your cleaning and sanitation programs.

Verify the effectiveness of your program

The effectiveness of your cleaning and sanitation program can be verified using:

  • ATP bioluminescent monitoring after cleaning to detect remaining food debris
  • microbial monitoring during production to test for remaining viable pathogens

OMAFRA administers an Environmental Monitoring Program at specific foods of plant origin facilities that uses microbial monitoring in conjunction with ATP bioluminescent monitoring when warranted. Refer to Environmental Monitoring Program for more information.

ATP Bioluminescence

ATP (adenosine-5'-triphosphate) is a substance found in all living cells, including:

  • food
  • bacteria
  • yeast
  • mould

ATP bioluminescence is a quick test that determines the relative cleanliness of a surface. This test uses a device called a luminometer to measure the combined total of organic material (food residues and microbial populations) collected from a swabbed surface.

High ATP values indicate high levels of organic matter on that surface. This is caused by poor cleaning and sanitation practices.

A picture of a luminometer.

Figure 1: ATP Bioluminescence is a quick, easy way to determine the relative cleanliness of a food plant surface. There are a number of manufacturers of quality luminometers.

ATP bioluminescence results are obtained within seconds. If the reading indicates that a surface is not clean, you should immediately re-clean and sanitize that surface.

The technology used in ATP bioluminescence requires little training and minimal preparation time. Both the luminometer and the swabs are relatively inexpensive.

Microbial Monitoring

Microbial monitoring complements ATP bioluminescence. While a clean surface generally is an indicator of low microbial levels, it is not a guarantee that the area is microbiologically clean. A microbiological analysis is required to determine the specific microbial types and/or populations that are present on the surface.

Listeria species

Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis infection in humans, is sometimes found on surfaces in the processing environments of ready-to-eat foods such as minimally processed fruits and vegetables and sprouted seeds.

By testing for all Listeria species, rather than just Listeria monocytogenes, you increase your ability to detect any species of Listeria that may cause human illness. Treating all positive results as though they are Listeria monocytogenes also increases your opportunity to take corrective measures.

Contact us

For more information on environmental monitoring and food safety, contact the Inspection Programs Unit by email at fpo.omafra@ontario.ca or call 1-877-424-1300.