The Food Safety Modernization Act requires that manufacturers preventive controls to ensure a safe production environment, which can best be accomplished through the implementation of a comprehensive environmental monitoring program.
Materials such as glass, metal, wood, plastic, bone, rocks and others are among those that the industry works very hard to keep out of raw materials, ingredients and finished goods.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), major outbreaks of foodborne illness due to Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli and Listeria affect an estimated 48 million people in the U.S. each year. Introduction of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has shifted focus towards ongoing prevention through establishment of documented food safety plans, which include Hazard Analysis, preventive controls and recall plans.
As the number of microbiology tests performed in the food industry increases due to companies meeting new regulatory requirements, fulfilling customer demands and with added emphasis on internal QA/QC programs, efforts are being made to streamline testing methods–both hands-on time to set up a test and time to final result.