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R. E. BRACKETT, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, University of Georgia, 1109 Experiment St., Griffin, GA 30223

Environmental control programs are useful only if they actually control the organisms they are intended to control. Hence, it is essential to determine the efficacy of such programs as soon as possible so that modifications or changes can be made that will enable control of microbiological hazards. The efficacy of environmental sanitation programs has traditionally been monitored through the use of classical microbiological techniques such as swabbing and plate counts. However, such methods are tedious, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and do not lend themselves to the real-time monitoring desired in HACCP programs. In recent years, newer, more rapid techniques to quickly assess environmental control programs have been adopted. These techniques include the use of miniaturized and film-based microbiological media, more rapid methods to detect and identify foodborne pathogens, automated sanitizer monitoring systems, and ATP and luminescence-based instruments for quickly assessing efficacy of cleaning and sanitation. Despite the improvements offered by such techniques, they still do not provide real-time monitoring of foods and the food processing environment. Biosensors that enable very rapid or real-time detection of foodborne pathogens or their metabolites are currently being developed and will likely become practical for use in the food industry within the next decade. In addition, developments in microelectronics and molecular biology will allow the development of miniaturized, integrated sensors capable of simultaneously monitoring microorganisms, quality indices, and environmental history of foods through processing and distribution. The enormous amount of data provided by future environmental monitoring systems will require a greater dependence on specialized high-speed computers to process and store the information, and control processing of foods.