title: Kurkumbh contract laboratory - rapid hygiene swab results we accept
doc_id: QCL-LAB-CRD-15
owner: Yogesh Dhumal
department: QA and Compliance
status: in_force
effective_date: 2025-12-01
applies_to: Kurkumbh frozen depot

KURKUMBH FROZEN DEPOT: RAPID HYGIENE SWABS FROM THE CONTRACT LABORATORY

The Kurkumbh frozen depot does not have its own laboratory. Its hygiene swabs of reefer floors, cleaned crates and the blast freezer are read by a contract laboratory in the MIDC estate, whose technician visits on Tuesdays and Fridays.

WHAT THE SWAB MEASURES
The swab picks up atp from food residue and living cells; the technician's hand-held reader gives a number within seconds.

THE LINE WE USE
At Kurkumbh, a reading of 300 rlu or below is a pass. Above that, the surface is cleaned again and swabbed again before it is used.

The depot's line is set by the frozen food customer's contract, which is looser than the lines used for chilled food.

WHAT A PASS DOES NOT MEAN
A pass means the surface was cleaned, not that it is free of germs. Any microbiological test the customer asks for still goes to the contract laboratory in the usual way.

RECORDS
The technician leaves a copy of each day's readings with the depot shift lead, who files it in the hygiene folder.

IF THE TECHNICIAN DOES NOT COME
The shift lead phones the laboratory. Surfaces waiting for a swab are not used until they have been swabbed and passed.

THE READER
The technician checks the reader with the maker's control swabs at the start of each visit and writes the result at the top of the day's sheet. A reader that fails its check is not used that day.

Questions to the depot QA officer.
