Environmental Monitoring Program in Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica) Packing Plant Guanajuato, Mexico

The state of Guanajuato in Mexico is known for its large production of vegetables not only for the local and national market, but also for the international market, especially the North American market, to which it exports mainly species such as broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. Italica), among other products. In this sense, one of the organizations located in the municipality of Dolores Hidalgo, C. I. N., in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, has a safety management system in accordance with the PrimusGFS system guidelines, which is recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and is therefore recognized worldwide (GFSI, 2022). Within this food safety scheme, a microbiological environmental monitoring program is required as a preventive control to avoid contamination of pathogenic microorganisms to the product from surfaces in direct contact as well as those that are not in direct contact but are part of the production environment. In environmental microbiological assessment, the zone concept is widely used and represents the basis for assessments accepted by international public health and food microbiology bodies such as the International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods, ICMSF.