A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry August 1998
Contents: Protozoan parasites in water and food | Infective dose of Salmonella in ice cream | Microbiological status of beef in Australia | Hygiene monitoring by ATP luminometry | Botulism associated with home preserved mushrooms | Quality system guidelines | Spoilage of low salt margarine
Hygiene monitoring by ATP luminometry
Food Safety and Hygiene, June 1997, reported on the potential use of ATP luminometry in food safety plans. A number of commercial systems are now available and their use seems likely to grow.
In a recent paper (Journal of Food Protection 61 (4) 1998 499-501) English workers have published a simple method for the comparison of ATP hygiene monitoring systems. These workers note that ATP hygiene monitoring is a simple and effective way for the food industry to assess hygiene levels as part of management programs such as hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems. However this approach to hygiene monitoring is only of use if the technology can be demonstrated to be sensitive, reliable and reproducible.
They suggest that the methodology described could be used by potential users of ATP systems to perform in-house evaluations of different systems before purchase. The systems used in the English study were supplied by Biotrace Ltd (UNILITE Xcel), Charm Sciences (LUMINOMETER K, PocketSwab) and IDEXX (LIGHTNING).
The study found significant differences in the sensitivity of the systems used and also in the variability of results obtained on the same sample with any given system.
The correlation between the two researchers who performed the analysis was very high indicating that the protocol was independent of variability between operators. The authors suggest that the protocol used to compare the different systems could also be used as part of an initial training and assessment program for designated hygiene monitors.
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