Page 35 - FoodFocusThailand No.243 July 2026

STRONG QC & QA

suitable for monitoring and assessing the plant was able to resume production within 48 hours, rather than stopping
microbiological risks in ready-to-eat operations for more than one week (U.S. FDA, 2021).
food plants, dairy production, processed The selection of rapid pathogen detection techniques should be based not only
meat facilities, and fresh-cut fruit and on testing speed but also on reliability, standard certification, product suitability, and
vegetable operations. economic value. Although these technologies may cost more than conventional
At present, rapid pathogen detection methods, they help reduce product holding time, lower recall risks, and improve
results are increasingly integrated with food safety management. They are therefore important tools for strengthening
artificial intelligence through AI-based proactive surveillance systems and enhancing the long-term competitiveness of
biosensors (Govender et al., 2025). the food industry.
These systems analyze data from
multiple sources, such as swab test
results, temperature, humidity, pH, water More Information Service Info C004
activity (a ), and sanitation history. This
w
enables early prediction of contamination
risks and shifts quality control from
a reactive approach to a preventive
approach and an efficient real-time risk
management system.

Lessons Learned from Listeria
Control in a Ready-to-Eat Food
Plant
A case study based on a real incident
in the ready-to-eat food industry found
that a sandwich and ready-to-eat
salad manufacturer detected Listeria
monocytogenes in finished products
using conventional testing. This resulted
in an immediate product recall and
production shutdown (U.S. FDA, 2021).
The key challenge was that, if
conventional culture methods were used
to test environmental swab samples from
high-risk points such as conveyor belts,
blades, and drains, the plant would have
to wait up to five days for results. This
delay would increase production losses
and costs caused by the shutdown.
To accelerate source identification,
the Quality Assurance (QA) team
applied real-time PCR together with
environmental swab testing. Samples
were collected from 50 high-risk points
in the high-care area (Law et al., 2015).
After 18 hours of enrichment and
approximately 1.5 hours of PCR analysis,
the system rapidly detected Listeria
DNA. Contamination was found at the
lower joint of an automatic vegetable
slicer and on the wheels of carts used
to move materials between production
zones.
Based on these findings, the
engineering and sanitation teams
disassembled the equipment for deep
cleaning, applied quaternary ammonium
compound (Quat) disinfectants, and
improved controls on cart movement
between production areas. After repeated
swabbing and PCR confirmation, all
results were negative. As a result,

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