1. ATP meters effectively monitor surface hygiene
Food poisoning and many diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms in food can occur at any time if the preparation and processing are not properly controlled. Contamination can come from: viruses, allergens, pathogenic bacteria, mold,… Poisoning symptoms can range from simple ones such as vomiting to rashes, swelling of the limbs; in more severe cases they can lead to coma, internal organ damage,... Microbial contamination also reduces product quality, causing significant losses for food processing companies when they encounter quality barriers in import and export. Therefore, monitoring food safety hygiene (Hygiene monitoring) is very important
Contaminated equipment, the production environment and the hands of food processors are among the basic causes of food contamination. How can you know whether daily and weekly cleaning is clean enough?
ATP is the universal energy molecule found in all living cells. Food residues and hidden microorganisms will be detected through ATP meter. Low ATP, low bacterial count.
2. Steps for surface microbiological cleaning from the "perspective" of the ATP meter
Monitor the surface microbiological cleaning process through the following steps:
Wash with ordinary water
-> Wash with hot water
- >Wash with detergent using an abrasive sponge
- >Wash again for the second time with a sponge containing detergent. The results show that the signal (luminescence intensity) recorded on the ATP meter gradually decreases. The ATP meter clearly demonstrates its proper role in cleanliness monitoring (Hygiene monitoring), correctly reflects the results of the cleaning process and provides a concrete view to propose hygiene control measures for each specific environment/ tool.
3. Some ATP meters popular on the market
- Hygiene ATP Testing Meter PCE-ATP 1 KIT3 for surfaces and water - PCE Instruments
- SystemSURE Plus ™ ATP Hygiene Monitoring System
- EnSURE™ Monitoring System, a Hygiena product
- AccuPoint Advanced ATP Meter, Neogen
- 3M ™ Clean-Trace ™ Luminometer
Most ATP meters on the market use ATP measurement technology. However ATP can be unstable and break down into ADP and AMP. A3 measurement (ATP measurement, ADP and AMP) gives a measurement result many times more sensitive than traditional ATP measurement. Kikkoman is one of the leading companies in this technology with the Lucipac A3 product line
4. Lumitester smart and Lucipac A3 - The perfect duo for microbiological testing
A3 is a new concept in hygiene monitoring developed by Kikkoman,
What is an A3 test?
A3 – an advanced chemical method that lets you detect contamination that might be overlooked by monitoring ATP, ADP, AMP
Through three simple steps, the data is presented visually through the application and you can access it anytime, anywhere thanks to cloud storage technology. ATP, ADP, AMP can be quantified by measuring the luminescence intensity produced by the dephosphorylation reaction. This light then becomes an indicator of contamination because A3 detects the remaining ATP.
Lucipac A3+ Lumitester smart is a sanitation monitoring system (Hygiene monitoring) extremely sensitive to food residues. For example, for chicken, the ATP test is 10 RLU. With A3, the measured signal is about 400 times higher, reaching 4248 RLU. Another example is beer, where this amplification is 1300 times, from 6RLU to 8266 RLU; similarly, for shrimp it is 8000 times. Therefore, A3 is a better indicator for verifying hygiene status.
Lumitester™ Smart
5300-01
ATP+ADP+AMP with A3 Detection, Lumitester™ Smart
LuciPac™ A3 Surface Swab System
5300-10
(Surface sanitation)
LuciPac™ A3 Water Swab System
5300-15
(For water samples)