Cleaning and disinfection programmes in food establishments: a literature review on verification procedures

In food establishments, cleaning and disinfection programmes contribute to provide the environmental conditions that are necessary for the production of safe and healthy food. Compliance with validated programmes is evaluated through verification activities, in order to establish, through objective evidence, if they are implemented as they were written and if they are effective, achieving continuous improvement of the sanitation programmes. In accordance with the specific guidelines of each country, food companies set up their technical specifications and develop their own cleaning and disinfection programmes. Depending on the analytical method used, one of the main challenges was to establish a reasonable limit of acceptability according to the impact that each surface has on the safety and hygiene of the food that is prepared. This review was focused on the procedures implemented to verify the cleaning and disinfection programmes in food establishments. In particular, this study examines the methodologies used (audits and analytical methods), sites for the collection of samples, acceptance criteria and main findings. The results of the analysed studies constitute a scientific basis for designing or improving sanitation procedures and their verification in food companies, and also provide relevant information for food safety authorities.