Presentations & workshops

Romain Briandet – INRA Micalis, Research Director

What is a biofilm ? Why do they resist to biocide action ?

Microbial life abounds on most surfaces in the natural and industrial environments, among those the food industry. A solid substrate, water and some nutrients are sufficient to start the construction of a microbial fortress, the so-call biofilm. The diversity of survival strategies developed by these surface-associated ecosystems are beginning to be deciphered in the case of rudimentary laboratory systems. The protective gelatinous organic matrixes which ensures the cohesion of these biological structures contributes to their resistance and persistence. They are essentially constituted by complex mixtures of self-produced biopolymers. Moreover, far from being only simple three-dimensional assemblies of identical cells, biofilms are composed of heterogeneous subpopulations with distinct behaviours that contribute to their global ecological success.

Graziella Bourdin – ANSES, Head of Unit bacteriology and parasitology of fishery products and aquaculture

Analysis of the sanitary and financial risks of biofilms

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Industrial case: How to manage biofilms (Listeria monocytogenes) in the seafood industry

Christine Faille, PhD – INRA, Research Director 

Suitability of biochemical sampling devices for monitoring biofilms in food environment

Rapid reliable test methods are needed to verify the effectiveness of hygiene procedures in the food industries. A recent survey carried out in the north of France  indicated that most methods used by food manufacturers rely on microorganism detection. Due to their long response time, and their specificity towards culturable microorganisms, these methods are only suitable for the validation of routine disinfection procedures. Elsewhere, many biochemical tests allowing the detection of organic materials (of food but also of microbial origin) are now commercially available. Since they offer the advantage to be very rapid, easy to perform and often inexpensive, these methods could be use routinely in addition to microbial methods, to detect possible cleaning incidents and to implement corrective actions in time.

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Ken Farmer – AFCO, Regional Vice President (USA)

Industrial case: Turning Disaster into Success using Enzymes

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Terry Willis – Madison Chemical, Food Division Director (USA)

Industrial case: Biofilm Treatment in a Ready-To-Eat Food Plant Experiencing Listeria Related Contamination

Many food manufacturing facilities encounter the presence of biofilms in their plant though many are unaware of its presence. Realco’s Biofilm Test Kit has enlightened many processors to the reality of biofilm. The use of Realco’s enzyme technology has proven biofilm can be thoroughly and safely removed. The use of this technology was validated in a ready-to-eat (RTE) manufacturer of dips, spreads and desserts that encountered sporadic, elevated aerobic plate counts (APC) as well as suspect Listeria hits. This paper will provide a case study on the enzyme curative treatment followed by regular enzyme preventative treatment to provide a safe production environment.

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Francesco Dragotto – Hypred, Commercial Director F&B (Italy)

Eradication of Listeria and biofilm in a cutting and aseptic meat packing plant

In 2013 an important producer of Italian traditional meat products (more than 600 M€ Turnover) risked losing his USA market because Listeria detection in sample. Only one range of products was affected by this issue: sliced cooked ham.

Turnover of export in USA for this range is about 10 M€.

QI Department of the Group was focused in solving the problem and they found presence of Listeria in less than 1% of samples before the packing clean room but 5% in finished plastic box.

This intervention describe how Realco’s technologies have been applied since then to find, eradicate and prevent biofilm hosting Listeria.

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Laurent Delhalle, PhD – Quality Partners, Metagenomic and microbial risk analysis

The metagenomic analysis applied  in the food industries : a technological breakthrough to control hygiene and biofilms

The understanding of the bacterial content in the biofilms will be insightful to control the risk of spoilage or contamination by pathogens in food products. Metagenomic analysis is a technological breakthrough to analyze microbial ecosystems in different types of samples such as biofilms.  This technique can elucidate microbial community structures, including the identification and quantification of culturable and non-culturable organisms, at a much higher resolution than was previously possible with culture-based methods or by previous culture-independent techniques. Now, metagenomic analysis should be considered as a technique for quality control and to evaluate the hygiene in industries.

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Marc RAYMOND – Aqua-tools, Director

ATP 2G: Innovative Microbiological measurement tool for CIP

Microbial contamination and uncontrolled biofilm in food and beverage industries can be a major issue. Without an faster, sensitive and robust innovative tool for monitoring of the installations, microbial growth can damage manufacturing process performances and equipment operations.

The 2nd generation of ATP-metry, called Quench-Gone ^TM  allows performing a diagnosis of the Total flora present in industrial process water in the whole installation. A biological mapping is first performed, allowing implementing a Methodical Analysis of Biological Risks and following efficiency of new enzymatic treatment of biofilm before the disinfection step by using cATP (Intracellular ATP) indicator.

Valérie Gallet – GEA, Process & Service Engineer

Industrial case: Detection and treatment of biofilms in CIP

Christian A. Christensen, PhD – Novozymes,
 Team Leader, TS Professional Cleaning EMA (Germany)

The role and future of cleaning with enzymes in the food and beverage industry

Most organic deposits found in pipes, tanks and membranes in the F&B industry are natural enzyme substrates and therefore efficiently broken down using enzymes – the challenge is to find the right enzymes for the right cleaning application. Novozymes is the global leader in industrial enzymes and therefore in possession of a huge enzymatic toolbox. This toolbox we use together with our customers to develop new cleaning solutions for use in the F&B industry. The benefits are numerous: Improved cleaning targeting specific organic problem soils; mild cleaning conditions creating a safer working environment and extending equipment lifetime; lower cleaning temperatures and energy consumption; and not least reduced downtime.