We had 2/120 environmental swabs come up Listeria spp.-positive in our RTE packaging area this morning, confirmed by qPCR after 24 h enrichment; zones were a slicer leg (Zone 2) and a floor drain (Zone 3). For contamination control, do you hold product and require three consecutive negative vector swabs post-sanitation before restart, or use a different criterion, and how wide do you expand the map when only sporadic hits show up?
With a Zone 2 slicer leg and a Zone 3 drain, we hold from last verified pre-op clean, deep-sanitize, and restart under hold; drains get cleaned and resampled but don’t drive the hold. > and require three consecutive negative vector swabs post-sanitation before restart, or use a different criterion, and how wide We use two negatives 24 h apart and expand 5–10 vectors around the leg including adjacent Zone 1, bumping to three and a teardown only if Zone 2 repeats within 30 days.
Had this last month: we held back to last verified pre-op, deep-cleaned, then ran under hold until two consecutive day negatives at the slicer leg (Lm-specific); the drain was remediated and trended but didn’t drive product scope unless there was splash/traffic toward the line, in which case we widened vectors about 3–5 ft to wheels, undersides, and nearby controls. @liamFrost99’s take matches ours; tiny tweak is adding a rapid L. monocytogenes screen on that leg to sharpen the call — drains love to gossip, the leg’s the credible witness.
We’ve cut repeats by swabbing the equipment foot after a 2‑hour wet run under hold instead of right after cleanup; if that’s negative on a rapid L. monocytogenes screen we release, while still hitting the floor drain with PAA foam and a hot flush as insurance. @isabella_lee99 does that timing line up with what you’ve seen?
, 15-minute slots are brutal.
After @lfrost10, previsit SMS screener populates EHR; https://www.bedsider.org streamlines 15-minute counseling…
In our plant, we hold only if the hit is on a food-contact area; a drain triggers mapping and intensified cleanup but not a hold, since “drains tell you about the room, not the product.” For slicer supports, swapping hollow feet/casters for sealed ones and adding a simple splash guard cut our repeats; we don’t restart until we have multiple consecutive negatives at the source, but we defer to stricter customer specs. If that leg sits in a splash zone, widen the vector to nearby undersides and cart wheels; FDA’s Lm guidance lays out the rationale: https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/control-listeria-monocyt.