Detergent and disinfectant residue testing with photobacteria

Fundamental to the HACCP philosophy is the identification of specific hazards and measures for their prevention. The method involves the identification of critical control points and procedures for monitoring them. The definition of a hazard includes unacceptable contamination of a biological, chemical or physical nature. However, the total cleanliness of the process facilities prior to initiating productions is based mainly on measuring the bacterial load with traditional microbiological tests. It is possible that the test result is not an indicator of the cleanliness, it only shows that there are no viable organisms on the surface. It is possible that there are clemical residues of the cleaning agents left on the surface. This is not allowed but usually no tests are run to avoid this. The luminescent bacteria light inhibition method can be used to measure low amounts of residues both in liquids and on surfaces. In this study we present data on the method and results obtained in the food industry in Scandinavian countries during the 'DairyNet – Hygiene Control in Dairies' project.