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Environmental Pathogen Management

#3 - What Are We Looking For?

January 31, 2024

Environmental Pathogen Management Series

When it comes to pathogens, there have always been two categories of food: low risk or high risk. Traditionally, this distinction was based on the potential of pathogens to contaminate and, subsequently, grow in  the  product.


However, an increased number of food poisoning outbreaks have occurred with foods like, fresh and frozen vegetables, ice cream, cereals and peanut butter, which has challenged our view of “low risk” foods.


In this third article from our short series on environmental pathogen management in the food industry, Jack van der Sanden suggests that no factory is truly safe, and that it is important to establish a tailor-made pathogen surveillance program based on the type of food that is being made.

 

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#1 - Why Do You Need One Environmental Pathogen Management Program?

Jack van der Sanden has partnered with bioMérieux, and written a short series of articles about environmental pathogen management in the food industry.
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#2 - Pathogen Testing is Dangerous

In this second article from our series about environmental pathogen management in the food industry, Jack van der Sanden exposes some potential mistakes companies make, when embarking on pathogen testing.
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#4 - How to Plan a Pathogen Hunt?

In this fourth article in our short series on pathogen management, Jack van der Sanden introduces a risk-based approach to set up your program ; how to define your sampling points, their numbers and their frequencies.
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#5 - Surprise: We Found a Pathogen!

This is the last chapter of our short series on environmental pathogen management. The previous articles will have given you some insights for an environmental pathogen management program in your factory.
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WRITTEN BY

Jack

International Food Safety Advisor

Jack van der Sanden is an international food safety advisor. He has been part of the global food industry for over 30 years.

After obtaining a food technology degree in The Netherlands, Jack joined the food industry as production supervisor. He migrated to New Zealand in 1990, where he obtained a post-graduate diploma in dairy science and technology at Massey University.

Over the years, he rose through the ranks and ended-up managing production, technical and food safety & quality teams. This cross-functional exposure enabled him to find pragmatic solutions, that strengthened food safety and quality systems in different multinational organizations.

During his career, he has not only advised small and medium-sized businesses in the food industry in New Zealand, but has also managed international consultancy projects in the United States, Europe and China. His expertise has opened many doors for him, from leading training in food safety and quality to mentoring many professionals in the food industry around the world.

During the last 10 years, he has specialised in Environmental Pathogen Management (EPM) and advised food industries in the design of pre-ventive and effective EPM programs.

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