Microbial surface contamination in the food industry

When micro-organisms adhere and colonize surfaces. they acquire new characteristics, notably an increased resistance to disinfectants. The community they form is called a biofilm. The increased resistance to disinfectants depends on the material and on the disinfecting molecule, it increases as biofilm ages. Furthermore, despite a continuous erosion occurs when biofilms are in contact with another surface (food or inert surface) or when a liquid flow on them. the total detachment of micro-organisms is very difficult, even impossible, to obtain. Cleaning and disinfecting are not always sufficient to limit biofilm formation to an acceptable level. therefore a judicious choice of materials and minimization of water input are also necessary.