food and drink innovation

Campden BRI

Sampling for food safety - a practical guide

Guideline 78

G78_samplingCover_G46 Shelflife for chill fds TP 12/08/2019 14:19 Page 1

Guideline 78

Sampling for food safety - a practical guide

Phil A. Voysey, Keith Jewell and Anton J. Alldrick

2019

© Campden BRI 2019ISBN: 978 0 907503 93 4

Station Road, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, GL55 6LD, UK

Tel: +44(0)1386 842000 Fax: +44(0)1386 842100www.campdenbri.co.uk

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Legislation changes frequently. It is essential to confirm that legislation cited in this publication and current at the time ofprinting, is still in force before acting upon it.

The information contained in this publication must not be reproduced without permission from the Publications Manager.

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Contents

Page no.Executive summary iAcknowledgements iiGlossary iii

Section 1 Introduction 11.1 Background 11.2 Purpose 31.3 Sampling for quality 3

Section 2 Common reasons for testing (why are you testing?) 42.1 Context 42.2 Conformity/compliance testing 5 Example 1: Chemical contaminants: mycotoxins in foods 6 Example 2: Microbiological hazards 8 Example 3: Physical hazards 92.3 Investigatory testing 102.4 System verification and intelligence 10

Section 3 Acceptance sampling plans 123.1 Principles 123.2 Limitations 14

Section 4 Representative sampling 164.1 Random sampling 164.2 Systematic sampling 174.3 Practical considerations 17 4.3.1 Particular food / drink / environment types 17 4.3.2 Collection of samples 18 4.3.3 Storage / transport 19 4.3.4 Considerations for sampling in different circumstances - some examples 20 4.3.4.1 Raw ingredients 21 4.3.4.2 Water 22 4.3.4.3 Food surfaces 23 4.3.4.4 Environmental sampling 23

Section 5 Acting on results 275.1 Adaptive sampling 27

References 29

Appendix 1 Acceptance sampling 33Appendix 2 Examples of why appropriate sampling matters 35

Sampling for food safety - a practical guide

©Campden BRI 2019

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