Food contact surface Swab Testing

Researches in the domain of Food Contamination show that over 80% of the contamination of regular daily food is attributed to the poor Hygiene levels of the Kitchen Staff and the Food handlers. In such a scenario, majority of the microbial contaminants enter the Food Chain through the Food Handling Staff and contaminated food contact surfaces.

• Lack of knowledge of Importance of Personal Hygiene in Food Safety.
• Ignorance and Negligence of the Food Manufacturers and their staff.
• Improper and Irregular Washing and Sanitization Practices.
• Lack of knowledge of the appropriate procedures of Washing and Sanitization.
• Improper kitchen layout, leading to touching unhygienic parts of the kitchen during Food Processing.
• Contamination through Food Handlers who are carrying diseases and micro organisms.

To avoid Cross Contamination of Food by the contact surfaces of the kitchen, it is important to take swabs from the contact surface such as chopping board, Utensils etc. to verify that the kitchen staff is not working with contaminated surfaces and are changing and sanitizing food contact surface frequently or whenever contaminated.