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- Sampling Glossary
In order to avoid any misunderstanding - please refer to the definition of terms in the text below
3-A Sanitary Standard 3-A SSI is an independent, not-for-profit US corporation dedicated to advancing hygienic equipment design for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.
Acids An acid is a chemical substance whose aqueous solutions are characterized by a sour taste and the ability to react with bases and certain metals (like calcium) to form salts. Aqueous solutions of acids have a pH of less than 7. A lower pH means a higher acidity, and thus a higher concentration of positive hydrogen ions in the solution. Removes limestone and most mineral deposits.
Alkali Alkalis are all bases, which form hydroxide ions (OH-) when dissolved in water. The terms “base” and “alkali” are often used interchangeably. Alkalis have a pH value above 7. Alkalis dissolves fat and oil, destroys protein and attacks light metal.
Aseptic sampling The process of withdrawing a sample from the production equipment through a closed circuit, which has been sterilised and kept sterile with no exposure to the environment during the sampling process.
Bioload See Microbial load.
Bioburden See Microbial load.
Chemical Sterilant A few disinfectants will kill spores with prolonged exposure times (3–12 hours); these are called chemical sterilants.
Chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with symbol Cl and atomic number 17. It belongs to the halogen group together with for instance iodine. It is a strong oxidizing agent and reacts with many substances. These properties make chlorine compounds efficient disinfectants.
CIP Abbreviation of Clean-In-Place. The process of cleaning a process component (like a sampling valve) without removing it from the production line.
Cleaning Removal, usually with detergent and water or enzyme cleaner and water, of adherent visible soil on a surface.
Complexing agent A substance capable of forming a complex compound with another material in solution. Improves the cleaning properties of a detergent.
Contact time The time span during which the item is in contact with the detergent or the disinfectant.
Enzymes Molecules, which are added to cleaning agents to ease the removal of specific organic material. Assures same cleaning effect at a lower temperature.
Disinfectant Usually a chemical agent that destroys harmful microorganisms but might not kill bacterial spores.
Disinfection Thermal or chemical destruction of microorganisms. Disinfection is less lethal than sterilisation, because it destroys most recognised microorganisms but not necessarily all microbial forms (e.g. bacterial spores).
Detergent A cleaning agent that has no antimicrobial effect, but in diluted solutions good cleaning properties
EHEDG Abbreviation for the European Hygiene Engineering and Design Group. EHEDG is a consortium of equipment manufacturers, food industries, research institutes as well as public health authorities promoting safe food by improving hygienic engineering and design in all aspects of food manufacture.
Electro polishing Electro polishing is an electrochemical process by which the high points within the microscopic surface texture are removed and the corners rounded. This results in Reduced Product Adhesion, Ease of Cleaning and Improved Corrosion Resistance.
Exposure time Period in a sterilisation/disinfection process during which the item is exposed to the sterilant/disinfectant at the specific sterilisation/disinfection parameters.
Flow path The path the sample flows from the tank or process equipment to the sample recipient.
Germicidal The property of an agent to destroy microorganisms.
Microbial load The number and types of viable microorganisms with which an item is contaminated; also called bioload or bioburden.
Microorganisms Animals or plants of microscopic size. As used in food and pharmaceutical industries, generally refers to bacteria, fungi, viruses and bacterial spores.
Peracetic acid A commonly used disinfectant, which is efficient at low temperature and short contact time. Relatively harmless as it decomposes into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).
Process media The product in the process equipment and the product from which a sample is taken.
Representative sample A sample which when it reaches the laboratory is still identical to the process media. A sample which is in no way contaminated or altered during neither the sampling process nor the transport to the laboratory.
Sanitization The application of a chemical agent that reduces the number of bacterial contaminants to a safe level as judged by the public health authorities. The official sanitizer protocol indicates that 99.999% of the specific test bacteria be killed in 30 seconds under the conditions of the test.
SIP Abbreviation for Steam-In-Place. The process of rendering a process component (like a sampling valve) sterile without removing it from the production line.
Spores Relatively water-poor resting cells surrounded by an impervious cell wall, which makes them relatively resistant to disinfectants and sterilants. They are dangerous as they can survive in adverse conditions and re-emerge as live bacteria at a later stage.
Sporicidal The property of an agent that kills spores.
Steaming The process of using saturated steam under pressure as the sterilising agent.
Sterile State of being free from all living microorganisms. In practice, usually described as a probability function, e.g., as the probability of any microorganism surviving sterilisation being one in one million.
Sterilant A few disinfectants will kill spores with prolonged exposure times (3–12 hours); these are called chemical sterilants.
Sterilisation Validated process used to render an item free of all forms of viable microorganisms. In a sterilisation process, the presence of microorganisms is expressed in terms of probability. Although this probability can be reduced to a very low number, it can never be reduced to zero.
Sterility Assurance Level The probability of a viable microorganism being present on an item after sterilisation. Usually expressed as 10–n; a SAL of 10-6 means <1/1 million chance that a single viable microorganism is present on a sterilised item.
Tensides A tenside is a surfactant that reduces the surface tension of water and assures a faster and better contact between the detergent and the soil.