The development of an ultrasonic apparatus for the noninvasive and repeatable removal of fouling in food processing equipment

A new ultrasonic apparatus operating at a frequency of 40 kHz was developed to dislodge biofilms from food processing equipment in order to assess the effectiveness of cleaning protocols. Sonication conditions to remove biofi lms and quantification by ATP-bioluminescence are described. An industrial meat process was developed at the laboratory level to form a biofilm with i ndustrial characteristics. Our results show that the biofilm removal by son ication during 10 s is reproducible and four times greater compared to the swabbing method (83% removal of fouling material against 20%). Unlike the s wabbing method, this ultrasonic apparatus permitted the immediately demonst ration of the inefficiency (within 1 min) of an industrial meat cleaning pr otocol. This apparatus is portable, easy to use and can be operated by unsk illed users.