⦁ Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP) is widely recognized as an essential requisite in the context of the Food Safety Management System applied by the Food & Beverage manufacturing factories
⦁ The set up of a meaningful EMP is not very clear and consequently EMP could lose the main objective achievable by its implementation: provide early warnings of potential microbial contamination of the finished products
⦁ The monitoring of pathogens should always be accompanied by hygiene indicators monitoring
⦁ A proper EMP requires the comprehension of fundamental elements and concepts such as: product proximity, routine and investigative sampling points, sampling points prioritization and frequency, microbiological standard definition, data collection and trend analysis
⦁ EMP must include a clear definition of corrective and preventive actions to be applied in case of any microbiological deviation detected
⦁ The main objectives of a meaningful EMP are the discovery and the removal of any harbourage niche in the production areas as well as the continuous improvement of the control measures applied (e.g. zoning, good hygiene practices etc.) in order to guarantee the food safety of the finished products
