Instant swabs now used at food businesses to detect any contamination

The prevention of food poisoning within Shropshire food businesses has gained an extra level of protection with the use of instant swabs to detect contamination or dirty residue left on preparation surfaces.

The importance of cleaning and disinfection has been highlighted in recent Food Standards Agency guidance on E. coli 0157. If food or a hand comes into contact with a dirty surface then this can lead to food poisoning.

Officers from Shropshire Council’s public protection team used a test on visually clean looking surfaces to see if they were contaminated. The instant swabs, which check for Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the residue left on contaminated surfaces, were then used and found 40% of visually clean food preparation surfaces and 20% of visually clean refrigerators failed the test.

In fact, the worst case had 17 times the permitted level of contamination. The most common reasons for failing were:

• Using an unsuitable cleaning product or disinfectant.
• Using contaminated cleaning cloths. Ideally single use cloths should be used for cleaning.
• Failure to use a two-step cleaning method. Some premises were relying on the use of a chemical-only clean and not removing grease and food debris first. The correct method is using hot detergent water mix and then a British Standard approved disinfectant.
• Failure to use an effective cleaning schedule, indicating a lack of management control involved in the cleaning process.

In any situation where the cleaning process was found to be inadequate, officers advised operators of food businesses of the correct technique. The area was then properly cleaned and the surface was swabbed again to demonstrate the improvements.

Mal Price, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for regulatory services, said:

“The safe preparation of food within these businesses is a number one priority. Contaminated surfaces can cause food poisoning and other related health issues, and the intervention by public protection officers is a highly effective way to avoid this. It’s good to see that new methods are always being created to ensure that food hygiene is maintained and improved upon on a regular basis.”

The use of the ATP swabs were very well received by food business operators. This was because they could instantly see that a surface they thought clean was in fact dirty or contaminated. By working closely with the food businesses, public protection officers are helping to improve standards of cleaning and preventing food poisoning on a large scale.