Microbiological Control In Food Workshop

1. Four major media for the spread of microbial contamination

The four major media for microbial pollution to spread pollution are: air, water, surface, and people

air

The air carries microorganisms to contaminate food. There are at least 600,000 dust particles per cubic meter of air, and there are also a large number of microorganisms. Production under such air conditions will definitely pollute food.

Therefore, an effective way to prevent air-contaminated food with a large number of dust particles and microorganisms is to take filtering and disinfection measures on the air.

water

In theory, microorganisms cannot grow in pure water. However, the water used in production and cleaning of facilities and equipment will always contain a certain amount of soluble organic matter and salts. It is these soluble substances that can be used by microorganisms as a source of nutrients for their growth.

When water with a large amount of dust particles and microorganisms is used in production or cleaning facilities and equipment, it is transferred to the food and contaminates the food.

Therefore, the water we directly use for food production must be treated to prevent microorganisms from contaminating products through the water.

surface

Due to the humidity in the air, all workshop surfaces (including ceilings, walls, floors, equipment, containers, tools or tables) are covered with a layer of water-containing film. The surface is contaminated by the fall of dust particles and microorganisms from the air.

We should understand that a seemingly clean surface has actually been contaminated by millions of microorganisms unless it has been properly disinfected and sterilized.

people

Perhaps no one would have thought that people, including ourselves, are a never-ending pollution vector. When we enter the food processing workshop, perhaps millions of bacteria will be brought into the workshop with us.

2. How to implement microbiological inspection

In the past, microbiological inspections in food factories were carried out by quality managers on the central samples of the products.

However, only conducting microbiological inspections on the final product cannot achieve the purpose of microbiological management. The inspection items need to be expanded, and production water, raw materials, workers and machinery must be inspected.

However, as the health management of the workshop, the quality manager only participates in the monitoring, and the real implementation lies in the participation of the employees.

Therefore, in order to promote microbial management, it is necessary for employees to have a broad and in-depth understanding of microbes and make their actions consciously conform to "microbial management actions."

1. Inspection of coliform flora

Inspection tool for self-test. Although the standard inspection method stipulates the medium to be used and the allowable amount of bacteria, it also requires a simple method of "self-inspection" and inspection tools, and the effect is good. The most preliminary and most important of the tested microorganisms is the "coliform".

The existence of "coliforms" may simply be fecal contamination. This kind of bacteria is never allowed in food. Simple inspection tools are available on the market. Machines, tools, environment, fingers, etc. can also be checked with the help of sterilized cotton bodies. When conducting a self-inspection, it is only necessary to make judgments of "no" and "ok" based on "yes" and "no".

Your fingers, pipes, and tools need to be inspected, and there should also be a requirement for the sterilization and cleaning state after the end of the day. Since the inspection uses the same inspection tools as the inspection of raw materials, intermediate products, and packaging, you can escape It is easy to manage. These simple tools can fully detect coliform bacteria, and it would be more ideal to expand the detection of Staphylococcus aureus or general bacteria.

2. Environmental microbiological inspection

Another cause of microbial contamination in factories is the "environment." The inspection of environmental microorganisms requires equipment and large expenses according to formal methods.

However, any factory can inspect the microorganisms in the air.

The sources of microorganisms in the air include microorganisms ingested from outside the factory and microorganisms produced inside the factory.

Generally, the agar medium is counted with a plate, and the petri dish is opened for a certain period of time and then cultured to check the number of floating bacteria in the air. This inspection can also be performed by the operator himself like the inspection of coliform bacteria.

Through the self-inspection, not only can we know the inspection results, but more importantly, we can find out the causes and take measures to improve.