Thinking Dry Means Safe? Why Low-Moisture Foods Still Need Strong EMP Systems

Author Info

Author 1: Prasant Prusty
Prasant Prusty is the Founder and CEO of Smart Food Safe, with a wealth of expertise in managing,improving, and critically evaluating food safety and quality processes to globally recognized standards in various food industry segments across the global food supply chain. Smart Food Safe offers food safety,quality, traceability, and regulatory compliance solutions designed for global food processing industries,using domain-specific functional expertise.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prasantprusty

Author 2: Arundhathy Shabu
Arundhathy Shabu is a Food Technologist, currently working as the Technical Content Specialist at Smart Food Safe, a leading provider of software solutions for end-to-end Quality, Food Safety, Regulatory, and Traceability management. She writes compelling educational content related to technology innovations and digital applications in the food industry domain.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arundhathyshabu

When it comes to food safety, there’s a common misconception: low moisture means low risk. But this assumption can lull food businesses into a false sense of security. Despite their extended shelf life and resistance to spoilage, low-moisture foods (LMFs) are far from immune to microbial contamination.

In fact, they present a unique and often underestimated food safety challenge—one that calls for vigilant Environmental Monitoring Programs (EMPs).

Understanding Low-Moisture Foods and Their Risks

Low-moisture foods—think nuts, spices, powdered milk, cereals, dried fruits, and pet food—have a water activity (aw) of less than 0.85. This low availability of free water slows down microbial growth, but it doesn’t eliminate pathogens altogether. Several studies and real-world outbreaks have proven that harmful microorganisms like Salmonella, Cronobacter, and Bacillus cereus can not only survive but persist in these dry environments for months—sometimes even years.

The reason? These pathogens are resilient. Some form spores or enter dormant states that help them withstand dry conditions, only to become dangerous once the food is rehydrated or consumed.

Worse yet, many LMFs are consumed without further cooking—meaning there’s no kill step before they reach consumers. That elevates the consequences of any contamination.

The LMF Production Environment: Controlled, But Not Risk-Free

Manufacturing LMFs involves highly controlled conditions: humidity and temperature are tightly regulated to prevent moisture uptake, equipment is designed to reduce water contact, and production areas are maintained in dry states. However, these same conditions that preserve product quality can make pathogen detection and control even harder.

Key challenges in LMF environments:

Pathogens can cling tightly to dry surfaces, reducing the efficiency of swabbing.
Microorganisms may enter a “viable but non-culturable” state, making them hard to detect with traditional culture-based methods.
Cross-contamination is a constant threat, especially when hygiene lapses occur or maintenance disrupts airflow and personnel movement.
Dry powders and dust can spread contamination across zones without notice.

In such settings, a reactive approach is not enough. An effective, proactive EMP is essential.

The Case for EMPs in LMF Facilities

Environmental Monitoring Programs serve as the backbone of preventive food safety. For LMF producers, a well-designed EMP provides early warning signals, verifies sanitation effectiveness, and helps trace contamination sources before they escalate into recalls or outbreaks.

But not all EMPs are created equal—especially when applied to low-moisture settings.

Environmental Monitoring in Low-Moisture Zones: Best Practices and Tools

Targeted Pathogen Surveillance: LMF environments must focus on organisms that can survive in low-moisture conditions, such as:

Salmonella spp. – notorious for surviving on dry surfaces and in dust.
Cronobacter spp. – particularly concerning in powdered infant formula.
Bacillus cereus – forms spores that resist heat and dryness.

Advanced Detection Methods: Conventional swabbing may not be enough. Use of molecular techniques (PCR, qPCR), and enrichment steps tailored for dry matrices, are critical to detect low levels of viable cells or spores.
Routine and Special Circumstance Sampling: EMPs should include:

Routine swabbing of food-contact (Zone 1) and adjacent non-contact (Zone 2) surfaces.
Special swabs during maintenance, equipment changeovers, or after any disruption in the facility.

Dry Sampling Techniques: Adopt dry swabbing materials and enhanced recovery buffers suited for dry surfaces to improve microbial pick-up.
Digital PEM Systems for Smarter Oversight:
Digitizing the Pathogen Environment Monitoring (PEM) program brings significant advantages:

Automated risk assessments based on production zones and history.
Real-time dashboards for hygiene indicators and pathogen test results.
Trigger-based action plans for events like positive results or equipment breakdowns.
Historical traceability to support root cause analysis and regulatory audits.

Digital EMP Solutions for the Way Ahead

In low-moisture food manufacturing, relying on spreadsheets and paper-based logs often leads to reactive safety management—responding only after issues arise. Today’s digital Environmental Monitoring Programs (EMPs) shift this paradigm by delivering real-time, structured insights that empower food facilities to prevent problems before they escalate. Rather than just recording data, digital EMPs turn every swab, trend, and alert into actionable intelligence—making environmental safety both smarter and more responsive.

➔ Risk-Based Site Mapping Aligned with Workflows

Instead of generic swabbing plans, modern EMP tools let you digitally map your facility, tagging sampling points according to specific risk zones linked to production flows. This ensures targeted, frequent monitoring in high-risk areas (e.g., Zone 1 food-contact surfaces) while efficiently covering lower-risk zones. By overlaying maps with workflows, your EMP evolves with operational changes—no more static zone definitions.

➔ISO 18593–Driven Testing Protocols Tailored to Your Facility

Digital EMP platforms can embed accepted standards like ISO 18593, automatically guiding users in choosing the right swab type (e.g., sponges, swabs, contact plates) and sampling technique for each location. In effect, they enforce compliance with industry best practices and ensure consistency—even when multiple staff or shifts are involved.

➔Smart Triggers for Event-Based Sampling

Forget rigid calendars. Digital EMPs empower you to set event-triggered sampling—such as after equipment maintenance, facility shut-downs, or interruptions. When a trigger event occurs, the system automatically schedules follow-up swabs and escalates alerts, helping you catch potential contamination before it becomes widespread.

➔Aggregated Data & Early-Warning Analytics

Rather than scattering logs across binders, digital EMPs stream data into centralized dashboards. This continuous aggregation enables trend analysis, flagging anomalies like rising pathogen indicators in real time. It supports predictive action—ensuring you don’t just react to issues, you prevent them before they escalate.

➔Audit-Ready Reporting for GFSI Standards and Beyond

Digital EMP tools auto-generate audit-ready reports, complete with traceability, timestamped results, deviation logs, corrective actions, and trend summaries. Whether you are preparing for FSMA inspections or GFSI audits, your data is organized, transparent, and defensible.

If you manufacture or handle low-moisture foods, it’s time to rethink your EMP. Pioneering EMP software such as Sm art EMP assists your facility to challenge the outdated notion that dry means safe, offering a smarter, risk-driven approach that helps you uncover hidden threats, act on insights, and redefine how environmental monitoring protects your brand.