Strategies of microbiological monitoring in catering: traditional method and new technologies

The monitoring of microbial contamination on surfaces and/or in air is of fundamental importance in all situations in which not optimal sanitary conditions can lead to the spread of infection diseases, or to the contamination of food products. In the latter case, these controls, and the necessary cleaning procedures, are usually applied on: refectories, work canteens and food industries. The control of the microbial contamination of the surfaces is one of the main activities included in these protocols. A representative sample must be collected, usually on a sampling area of 100 cm2. In case specific pathogens are searched, the sampling area would be larger, ideally of 0.5-1 m2. In this study the places subject to monitoring were the high quality production line and the work canteen, this one managed by Camst, at the dairy industry Granarolo SpA. All sites were treated by cleaning products supplied by JohnsonDiversey.