Tag Archives: handwashing

August 12, 2021

Reducing Cross Contamination in Your Lab

By Nathan Libbey

Cross Contamination

Cross Contamination – noun – “inadvertent transfer of bacteria or other contaminants from one surface, substance, etc., to another especially because of unsanitary handling procedures. – (Mariam Webster, 2021). Cross contamination is not a new concept in the clinical and food lab industries; many facilities have significant design aspects as well as SOPs to deliver the least amount of contaminants into the lab setting. For cannabis labs, however, often the exponential growth leads to a circumstance where the lab simply isn’t large enough for the number of samples processed and number of analytical instruments and personnel needed to process them. Cross contamination for cannabis labs can mean delayed results, heightened occurrences of false positives, and ultimately lost customers – why would you pay for analysis of your clean product in a dirty facility? The following steps can save you the headaches associated with cross contamination:

Wash (and dry) your hands properly

Flash back to early pandemic times when the Tik Tok “Ghen Co Vy” hand washing song was the hotness – we had little to no idea that the disease would be fueled mostly by aerosol transmission, but the premise is the same, good hand hygiene is good to reduce cross contamination. Hands are often the source of bacteria, both resident (here for the long haul; attached to your hands) and transient (easy to remove; just passing through), as they come into contact with surfaces from the bathroom to the pipettor daily (Robinson et al, 2016). Glove use coupled with adequate hand washing are good practices to reduce cross contamination from personnel to a product sample. Additionally, the type of hand drying technique can reduce the microbial load on the bathroom floors and, subsequently tracked into the lab. A 2013 study demonstrated almost double the contamination from air blade technology versus using a paper towel to dry your hands (Margas et al, 2013).

Design Your Lab for Separation

Microbes are migratory. In fact, E. coli can travel at speeds up to 15 body lengths per second. Compared to the fastest Olympians running the 4X100m relay, with an average speed of 35 feet per second or 6 body lengths, this bacterium is a gold medal winner, but we don’t want that in the lab setting (Milo and Phillips, 2021). New lab design keeps this idea of bacterial travel in mind, but for those labs without a new build, steps can be made to prevent contamination:

Try to keep traffic flow moving in one direction. Retracing steps can lead to contamination of a previous work station
Use separate equipment (e.g. cabinets, pipettes) for each process/step
Separate pre- and post-pcr areas
Physical separation – use different rooms, add walls, partitions, etc.

Establish, Train and Adhere to SOPs

Design SOPs that include everything- from hygiene to test procedures and sanitation.

High turnover for personnel in labs causes myriad issues. It doesn’t take long for a lab that is buttoned up with cohesive workflows to become a willy-nilly hodgepodge of poor lab practices. A lack of codified Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can lead to a lab rife with contaminants and no clear way to troubleshoot the issue. Labs should design strict SOPs that include everything from hand hygiene to test procedures and sanitation. Written SOPs, according to the WHO, should be available at all work stations in their most recent version in order to reduce biased results from testing (WHO, 2009). These SOPs should be relayed to each new employee and training on updated SOPs should be conducted on an ongoing basis. According to Sutton, 2010, laboratory SOPs can be broken down into the following categories:

Quality requirements
Media
Cultures
Equipment
Training
Sample handling
Lab operations
Testing methodology
Data handling/reporting/archiving
Investigations

Establish Controls and Monitor Results

Scanning electron micrograph shows a colony of Salmonella typhimurium bacteria. Photo courtesy of CDC, Janice Haney Carr

It may be difficult for labs to keep tabs on positivity and fail rates, but these are important aspects of a QC regimen. For microbiological analysis, labs should use an internal positive control to validate that 1) the method is working properly and 2) positives are a result of target analytes found in the target matrix, not an internal lab contamination strain. Positive controls can be an organism of choice, such as Salmonella Tranoroa, and can be tagged with a marker, such as Green Fluorescent Protein in order to differentiate the control strain. These controls will allow a lab tech to discriminate between a naturally contaminated specimen vs. a positive as a result of cross-contamination.

Labs should, in addition to having good QC practices, keep track of fail rates and positivity rates. This can be done as total lab results by analysis, but also can be broken down into customers. For instance, a lab fail rate for pesticides averages 4% for dried flower samples. If, during a given period of review, this rate jumps past 6% or falls below 2%, their may be an issue with instrumentation, personnel or the product itself. Once contamination is ruled out, labs can then present evidence of spikes in fail rates to growers who can then remediate in their own facilities. These efforts in concert will inherently drive down fail rates, increase lab capacity and efficiency, and result in cost savings for all parties associated.

Continuous Improvement is the Key

Cannabis testing labs are, compared to their food and clinical counterparts, relatively new. The lack of consistent state and federal regulation coupled with unfathomable growth each year, means many labs have been in the “build the plane as you fly” mode. As the lab environment matures, simple QC, SOP and hygiene changes can make an incremental differences and drive improvements for labs as well as growers and manufacturers they support. Lab management can, and should, take steps to reduce cross contamination, increase efficiency and lower costs; The first step is always the hardest, but continuous improvement cannot begin until it has been taken.

References

Margas, E, Maguire, E, Berland, C. R, Welander, F, & Holah, J. T. (2013). Assessment of the environmental microbiological cross contamination following hand drying with paper hand towels or an air blade dryer. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 115(2), 572-582.

Mariam Webster (2021. Cross contamination. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cross%20contamination

Milo, M., and Phillips, R. (2021). How fast do cells move? Cell biology by the numbers. Retrieved from http://book.bionumbers.org/how-fast-do-cells-move/

Robinson, Andrew L, Lee, Hyun Jung, Kwon, Junehee, Todd, Ewen, Perez Rodriguez, Fernando, & Ryu, Dojin. (2016). Adequate Hand Washing and Glove Use Are Necessary To Reduce Cross-Contamination from Hands with High Bacterial Loads. Journal of Food Protection, 79(2), 304–308. https://doi.org/10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-15-342

Sutton, Scott. (2010). The importance of a strong SOP system in the QC microbiology lab. Journal of GXP Compliance, 14(2), 44.

World Health Organization. (2009). Good Laboratory Practice Handbook. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/tdr/publications/documents/glp-handbook.pdf

March 31, 2020

Soapbox

Home Office HACCP During COVID-19

By Nathan Libbey

1 Comment

With much of the world shutting down and many of us forced to take refuge behind our own doors, we have some time to reflect on what actions led to this. There has been, in my opinion, a clear disconnect between our actions and health outcomes. We need to bridge this gap; We now have a moment to build that bridge. We can start by reassessing our endpoint measurement of health and disease and focusing on what leading measures will impact our lagging results. Think of it as HACCP-lite or home office HACCP. Small changes in the way we think and behave can lead to significant change.

Lagging measures – Lagging measures make great headlines and typically measure an outcome. These are easily quantifiable and therefore receive a good deal of the focus.

Leading measures – Leading measures are inputs that happen during the process and in advance of an outcome. Leading measures are often difficult to quantify.

This week, Nathan started a “Germ Jar” activity with his kids to track washing.

We are currently focused on the lagging measures for a communicable disease, COVID-19. Illness and death numbers stemming from the pandemic continue to rise, as is expected with more available testing. It is easy for us to dwell on these numbers as they climb and dominate the news. A study in Australia last decade indicated that just over 1% of those experiencing flu like symptoms sought treatment and eventually got tested. I’m not going to use the tip of the iceberg cliché, but there it is. Focusing on the rapidly rising rates of COVID may be easy to do, but it won’t help our future selves.

What we should be doing during this time, however, is looking at our own leading behaviors and how changing them can help prevent this situation from reoccurring.

Here are some inputs we can rethink:

Hand washing – The average American uses the restroom 6-7 times per day. This week I started a “Germ Jar” activity with my kids (spring break week!) to track washing. If we wash our hands every time we use the restroom and every time we eat, that’s roughly 10X per day. Our leading indicator of household health, then, is 10 hand washes per day. This principle can, and should be applied to workplaces, including schools, airports and hospitals. What if we had mandatory handwashing prior to airport security and boarding? My estimation is that data would indicate a sharp decline in illness and transmission rates.
Disinfecting/Sanitizing – Similar to hand washing, cleaning surfaces serves as a vital indicator of future health. Examples, such as this District in Freeport, Il, indicate that increasing frequency of disinfecting can lead to a dramatic decrease in numbers sick. In my new office setting, we have set a goal via the Germ Jar of 3 times per day wiping down high touch surfaces. As we reenter close-proximity society, we need to have a better understanding of what high touch surfaces are, both for those who are tasked to clean them, as well as those that are doing the touching. Reduction of touches coupled with above washing behaviors post-touch can help prevent disease transmission.
Nathan’s daughter adding to the Germ Jar
Monitoring – Lastly, we need to do a better job at monitoring ourselves and our environments. In my new office, we have enacted a temperature check every morning and night. If we practiced symptom reporting (coughing, sneezing, chills) and monitored temperature in other settings, such as offices and schools, could we start to see pockets of infection and trends? Taking it a step farther, while we invest a tremendous amount of time and money into protecting our food supply from foodborne illness, we rarely discuss preventive monitoring for other diseases, such as influenza and now COVID-19. Technologies are rapidly coming available that will allow us to perform quick diagnostics of both individuals and environments. If we were to monitor the air and surfaces of a school nurse’s office, would we find data that could prevent transmission of disease? Can we transfer HACCP-lite to additional (all) settings?

Over the next weeks and months, we are going to be inundated by the spike in COVID illnesses and deaths. During this time, it is on each of us to realize how our past behaviors led to the state we are in. When we return, viruses will not be absent from the world, our hospitals, schools, offices or our bodies. We can, starting now, begin to measure and change our leading behaviors and begin to shape a healthier future.

May 9, 2019

Sanitation Starting Points: More Than Sweeping the Floors and Wiping Down the Table

By Ellice Ogle

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Sanitation is not just sweeping the floors and wiping down the table – sanitation has a wide-ranging function in a cannabis food manufacturing facility. For example, sanitation covers the employees (and unwanted pests), food-contact equipment (and non-food-contact equipment), trash disposal (including sewage), and more. Ultimately, sanitation systems maintain a clean environment to prevent foodborne illness from affecting human health. Fortunately, there are resources and tools to ease into establishing a robust sanitation program.

Overall, the main goal of sanitation is to produce safe food, to keep consumers healthy and safe from foodborne illness. With the cannabis industry growing and gaining legalization, cannabis reaches a larger, wider audience. This population includes consumers most vulnerable to foodborne illness such as people with immunocompromised systems, the elderly, the pregnant, or the young. These consumers, and all consumers, need and deserve safe cannabis products every experience.

To produce safe food, food manufacturing facilities in the United States must at least follow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 Chapter I Subchapter B Part 117, current good manufacturing practice, hazard analysis, and risk-based preventive controls for human food. Although cannabis is currently not federally regulated, these regulations are still relevant for a cannabis food manufacturing facility since the same basic principles still apply. Also, these regulations are a good resource to simplify a comprehensive sanitation program into more manageable components, between sanitary operations and sanitary facilities. With more manageable components, the transition is smoother to then identify the appropriate tools that will achieve a thorough sanitation program.

Sanitary operations

1) General maintenance of the facilities: The buildings and fixtures of the food manufacturing facility cover a lot of ground – hiring a maintenance team will divide the responsibility, ensuring the entire facility can be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. Furthermore, a team can build out a tool like a preventative maintenance program to restrict issues from ever becoming issues.

Figure 1: Dirty Cloth Towel in Dirty “Sanitizer” Solution — Dirty Cloth Towel in Dirty “Sanitizer” Solution (an example of what NOT to do)

2) Control of the chemicals used for cleaning and sanitizing: Not all chemicals are equal – select the appropriate cleaning and sanitizing chemicals from reputable suppliers. Obtain the right knowledge and training on proper use, storage, and proper protective equipment (PPE). This ensures the safe and effective application of the chemicals in minimizing the risk of foodborne illness.

3) Pest control: Understand the environment within the facility and outside the facility. This will aid in identifying the most common or likely pests, in order to focus the pest control efforts. Keep in mind that internal pest management programs can be just as successful as hiring external pest control services.

4) Procedures for sanitation of both food-contact and non-food-contact surfaces: Developing sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs) provides guidance to employees on appropriate cleaning and sanitizing practices, to balance effective and efficient operations. A master sanitation schedule can control the frequency of indicated sanitation procedures.

5) Storage and handling of cleaned portable equipment and utensils: Cross contamination in storage can be minimized with tools such as controlled traffic flow, signage, training, color coding, and more.

Sanitary facilities

6) Water supply, plumbing, and sewage disposal: Routine inspections of plumbing, floor drainage, and sewage systems prevent unintended water flow and damage.

7) Toilet facilities: Clearly defining standards for the toilet facilities and setting accountability to everyone who uses them will ensure that the toilet facilities are not a source of contamination for the food products.

8) Hand-washing facilities: Good manufacturing practices (GMPs) include proper hand washing and proper hand washing starts with suitable hand-washing facilities. For example, frequent checks on running water, hand soap, and single use towels ensure that all hands are clean and ready to produce safe food.

9) Trash disposal: While trash can be a source of cross contamination, trash can also attract and harbor pests. Scheduling regular trash disposal and controlling traffic flow of waste are two ways to minimize the risk of cross contamination from trash.

Bonus

Even after meeting these requirements, sanitation programs can be more sophisticated. An example is to institute an environmental monitoring program to verify and validate that the sanitation program is effective. Another example is in identifying and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) within the sanitation program that can improve not just the sanitation processes, but the operations as a whole. Principally, sanitation is cleanliness on the most basic level, but waste management can encompass sanitation and grow into a larger discussion on sustainability. All in all, sanitation programs must reshape and evolve alongside the company growth.

Sanitation is interwoven throughout the food manufacturing process; sanitation is not a single task to be carried out by a sole individual. As such, it is beneficial to incorporate sanitation practices into cannabis food manufacturing processes from the beginning. Protect your brand from product rework or recalls and, most importantly, protect your consumers from foodborne illness, by practicing proper sanitation.

November 11, 2015

Cannabis Coaching & Compliance

Keep It Professional~Food Safety Musts!

By Maureen McNamara

1 Comment

There are many aspects to the cannabis industry that demand an owner’s attention: Compliance, great products, great people, great location, finances…. So is a focus on food safety a priority?

Yes, yes it is. And not just for infused products.

For starters, in some states like Colorado, it is required. In other states it will be required in the foreseeable future, and generally speaking, it is a vital component for a professional industry that continues to show the community that you are committed to creating safe products.

Have you ever had a foodborne illness? I’m going to assume you just nodded your head or thought yes. Check out this statistic: according to the Center for Disease Control there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illnesses (and 3000 people die) every year in the United States.

A quick reminder about the typical symptoms of foodborne illness: vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and nausea. Experiences we would all like to avoid.

What I know for sure… you do not want your product or your company to ever be associated with making people sick.

Take into account that for medical marijuana patients, they may already have compromised immune systems. This puts them at an even greater risk for foodborne illness. We need to ask questions like “Are my employees doing everything possible to ensure a safe, wholesome product?”

A properly trained staff is a critical necessity in the cannabis industry. Whether it is currently required or not, your commitment to safety for your patients and consumers show that you care and are committed to high standards. Additionally, you may avoid fines, closures and recalls. These all create a drain on your finances… as well as your reputation.

The FDA has identified five key factors that often contribute to outbreaks:

Purchasing Food from Unsafe Sources
Improper Holding Time and Temperature
Inadequate Cooking
Improper Cleaning and Sanitizing
Poor Personal Hygiene

Safe Purchasing:

Be aware of starting with high quality ingredients. Ask your suppliers questions about their inspections and quality controls. If possible conduct a tour of the supplier facilities to verify they meet necessary standards. Are you impressed with their food safety standards and protocols?

Avoiding Time & Temperature Abuse:

Bacteria needs an ideal temperature (between 41°-135°) and a bit of time (4+hours) to grow to harmful levels. Keep your cold food cold and cool your heated foods quickly.

Inadequate Cooking:

If you are infusing oil, I strongly encourage you to work with your local health department for a procedure that will ensure the oil is cooked to a safe temperature (while not interfering with your chemistry) to eliminate potential pathogens or microbials.

Cleaning and Sanitizing:

Microorganisms grow well at room temperature. Cleaning and sanitizing is important to ensure microorganisms are reduced or eliminated. Certainly all of your food contact surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized whenever you change tasks and at least every four hours. This is not just for making infused products, please keep this in mind at the retail level as well. Think of how many hands (both employees and customers) may be touching the product containers. Avoid cross-contamination by cleaning and santizing thoroughly and often.

Personal Hygiene:

In each food safety class I have facilitated in the last 18 years, everyone admits they or their team could improve personal hygiene. Shout out to any bearded folks… did you know that the FDA food code requires facial hair that is 1-inch or longer to be restrained? Got a beard net?

Because most of the foods manufactured in the cannabis industry are “ready to eat” foods, great personal hygiene and frequent, thorough handwashing is essential. The FDA reccommends a 20 second handwashing procudure with hot water (≥100°), a soapy lather, vigoursly rubbing hands for at least 10-15 seconds, rinsing well and using a single-use towel to dry your hands.

I know… it sounds very basic. However, when I observe people washing their hands it is often for less than 8-seconds. Not only is handwashing a great way to stay healthy ourselves, it is a key way to ensure your products are safe and not putting public health in jeopardy.

I’ll throw down a challenge for you! This month: focus with your team on personal hygiene and hand washing. Whether you are growing, infusing or selling this is a vital component for a professional, responsible industry. When it comes down to it, you make things that go right into your customer’s and patient’s bodies. Create those products on a foundation of food safety and you will more easily create a thriving business.

Cannabis Trainers provides ServSafe® food safety training for edible makers and Sell-SMaRT™ the responsible cannabis vendor program for sellers. (www.CannabisTrainers.com)

We would love to hear from you! Comment below and let us know what your team does to ensure you are making and selling safe products.

October 23, 2015

Cannabis Coaching & Compliance

Food Safety Training: A Story of Poo

By Maureen McNamara

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Cannabis Trainers: A Story of Poo

Are you an excellent hand washer?
Almost everyone answers this question with a big “YES!”

The reality? Researchers let us know that most people don’t wash their hands thoroughly or frequently. Especially men… sorry fellas!

I know, I understand that this sounds super basic. However, it is an integral part of ensuring that your business doesn’t contribute to any of the millions of food borne illnesses each year in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there are approximately 48 million cases of food borne illness, 128,000 hospitalizations and 3000 deaths resulting from food borne illness.

For us in the cannabis industry, many of our products are known as “ready to eat foods” or, foods that do not require heating prior to eating. This allows us to keep things a bit simpler for our customers and patients. The most prevalent foodborne illness is the norovirus, which is linked to ready to eat foods and poor personal hygiene factors.

Keep in mind that even though we [typically] are not working with high risk foods (think: poultry, fish, beef etc.), we may very likely be creating food for a high risk population (patients with compromised immune systems), and great personal hygiene is imperative.

Is your team using gloves or utensils to handle all ready to eat foods?
Do you wash hands prior to gloving?
Are hands being washed with at least 100*F water for 20 seconds?

One tool that I like to use in our food safety classes to illustrate the point that hand washing is typically done quickly and poorly is GloGerm. This highlights where the areas for improvement are for each person with hand washing.

I am often asked about hand sanitizer. For all you busy people out there… listen up! Hand sanitizer does NOT replace hand washing ever.
Seriously- never. Here is my analogy for you:
Hand sanitizer on dirty hands is like whipped cream on poop. You’re welcome for that mental image.

Frequent, thorough hand washing is essential to ensure that your team creates food safely and with integrity. The truth is, fecal contamination is a big deal. And although we may all claim that we are great hand washers, there is often room for improvement.

Ready to learn more? Join us for one of our ServSafe Food Handler courses that we customize to the specific needs of the cannabis industry.