FAQ's
Shield Us Tech® and My-shield® Products
The active ingredient forms a colorless, odorless, positively charged polymer that chemically bonds to the treated surface. You could think of it as a layer of electrically charged swords. When a microorganism comes in contact with the treated surface, the quaternary amine “sword” punctures the cell membrane and the electrical charge “shocks” the cell.
Most hand sanitizers contain up to 70% alcohol. Germfree 24 Hand Sanitizer is alcohol-free and non-flammable. It also contains Aloe-Vera, which softens your hands and eliminates drying out your hands, unlike our Competitor’s alcohol-based products. One spray lasts all day!
No. Our FDA Registered My Shield® Hand Sanitizer will not wash/rub off and will remain active on the skin’s surface for up to 24 hours. The product is removed as the skin naturally exfoliates. Normal hand hygiene practices should be followed in conjunction with the application of our Hand Sanitizer.
- Up to 24 Hours for Skin Products.
- Up to 28 Days for Surface and Laundry Products.
- Both offer up to 28 days protection per application.
- Both kill 99.99% of all Bacteria & Virus’s.
- My-Shield ® Hospital Grade Cleaner has been clinically tested and proven to kill MRSA (Golden staph) & C-diff spores at Log 6 or better (99.99%).
- Both can be used for small & large surface areas (e.g. Building interiors) can be treated with the use of cloths,sponges, foggers or an electro-static sprayer to easily disperse to all surfaces, including walls, ceilings, flooring, furniture, air vents, doorknobs, remote controls etc.
- Both are easy to apply, comes in ready mixed solution and drying time is very quick.
- Both are Non-corrosive-Will not harm surfaces-EXTREMELY safe to handle.
Yes – it can be used on all surfaces, both porous and non-porous.
Both surface products are water-based and can be applied by trigger sprayer, pump up sprayer, backpack sprayer, fogger or electro-static sprayer
Most commercial antimicrobials are capable of providing a quick inhibition of bacteria and fungi (although some have a limited spectrum of effectiveness). Conventional products penetrate living cells and kill by way of poisoning the organism, usually using, bleach, alcohol, formaldehydes, triclosan and other poisonous chemicals.
They are designed to act and dissipate quickly to avoid adverse effects to humans and animals due to their toxic ingredients. Our coating takes a totally different approach. Our products provide an effective initial microbial kill when it is applied, and unlike the others, it also provides long-term control of growth on treated surfaces by creating a modified surface to make them antimicrobial.
For best results, surfaces should be cleaned free of debris.
They are effective against most common bacteria, yeasts, molds, mildew and fungi that cause stains, odors and product degradation.
No. The product provides continuous antimicrobial protection that protects the surfaces. However, normal cleaning practices should be maintained
Our products are water-based, non-toxic and extremely safe. When using the Surface Products for treatment applications, we recommend applying in a well-ventilated area, wearing gloves and protective eyewear as an extra safety precaution. Follow all label directions and Safety Data Sheets.
All products are formulated with Zetrisil®, which is a proprietary silicone quaternary solution that provides long-term protection. Zetrisil® covalently bonds to surfaces, forming a matrix of microscopic "swords" with a high positive charge, known as high "Zeta Potential." This high Zeta Potential means that negatively charged microbes will be drawn to the shield, where the matrix of swords will do its work.
ATP Meters
If you are a food production or distribution facility, you know how difficult it is to ensure that the surfaces on which food comes into contact are clean. If you’re not using an ATP system, chances are you or someone else is simply doing a visual examination of the surface to determine whether it’s clean. The problem with this approach is that it’s subjective, two people could look at the surface and come to two different conclusions, and visual inspections can not always detect food residue. Biofilms, in particular, are a real danger to a visual inspection system since they often go undetected and can shield harmful bacteria from cleaning methods.
If you’re using another method, such as microbiological monitoring for coliforms and other indicator organisms, you know how long it takes to get your result. In most cases, you’re finding out tomorrow or the day after that your production line was dirty today. At that point, there’s nothing you can do to correct for today’s problem. The real advantage of an ATP system is it’s immediacy of results. You can find out in a matter of seconds that a particular surface is not ready for production. So your crew can clean it right now and production can start immediately thereafter.
It is important to understand that an ATP monitoring system is detecting the level of ATP on a surface. That ATP may be from food residue, bacteria, yeast, mold or, most likely, some combination of the above. So, while it is true that the more bacteria that are present on a surface, the more ATP will be reported, in reality, there will never be ONLY bacteria on the surface. There has to be some nutrient for the bacteria to grow and that nutrient contains ATP. To complicate the matter further, there are different levels of ATP in different cells on the surface. Yeast, for example, contains 100 times the ATP of a typical Coliform bacteria. Somatic cells contain 3000 times as much ATP as yeast. So, if you get a reading with a certain value that number may represent a few yeast cells, a lot of bacteria and some food residue. Or, it may contain a whole lot of bacteria and a little food residue. There’s no way of knowing for sure.
The other complicating issue is the difference in reporting for microbiological quality standards relative to ATP monitoring. Most often, we’re reporting bacteria counts by the number of colony forming units (CFU’s). A single CFU may actually house five cells. Each of those cells contain ATP so this would be the equivalent of five units of ATP. Or, the single CFU could contain 20 cells which would relate to 20 units of ATP.
While ATP monitoring systems are not direct indicators of bacterial or spoilage organism presence, they are the fastest and most convenient method for determining the POTENTIAL for these organisms to exist on your food contact surface. There is simply no faster or easier way to know that you COULD have a problem. And with the ability to make that determination immediately, they allow you to correct the issue before it becomes a serious problem.
Relative to microbiological sampling, ATP monitoring can be performed by relatively unskilled employees. You don’t need a microbiologist to perform the test. And microbiological sampling is very specific. You need separate tests for coliforms, Listeria, general E. coli, etc.
The other significant advantage you gain with the implementation of this system is the assurance to others that you are employing a scientifically-based, consistent sanitation monitoring program. Many customers use it to assure their customers that they’re receiving the highest level of food quality possible. Many of our customers tell us that they have obtained new business as a result of the implementation of this program.
You’re looking for points in your operation that are particularly susceptible to this potential problem. Where are the areas in your facility that food residue tends to collect? Most likely, you know where these areas are now. You simply need to incorporate their testing into a formal sampling plan. Your sales representative can help you with this.
Here again, your sales representative can help you with this. Our experience has shown that most people establish their own values for what is and is not clean. This usually requires a sampling of typical cleaning results compared to extensive or deep cleaning practices. It also depends on where the food goes from the point of sampling. If it’s meant for immediate delivery to consumers in a ready-to-eat format, this implies a different standard then if the food moves on to a further processing operation where it is cooked or sanitized in some fashion.
One of the things we’ve found through experience is that very typically, the implementation of an ATP monitoring system leads to a cleaner facility. Most often, your numbers will start out pretty high and then fall over the initial few days and weeks of the implementation of the program.
It is important to remember that the standards you establish are relative to your facility. Consistency of results is almost as important as the actual result. This system helps you establish a cleaning procedure that produces predictable, consistent results.
With all of the above in mind, our experience has shown that customers in the high-risk category of food processing typically set a pass level of approximately 150, a marginal limit of 299 and a fail limit of anything above 300.
We recommend testing food contact surfaces before any sanitizer is applied, but swabbing can either be done before or after the sanitizer step; it will not make a difference provided:
- All ATP is assumed to be removed from the surface
- The sanitizer used was properly prepared and within proper concentration, range
- The appropriate contact time that is recommended by the manufacturer has been achieved.
- Pools of cleaners or sanitizers are avoided.
The AccuPoint samplers contain a buffered extraction solution that is designed to neutralize any potential effect of your sanitizer. Of course the surface should be completely clean before the sanitizer is even applied. This allows for a true reading of whether the equipment surface has been properly and effectively cleaned.
It is generally accepted in food plants to swab after adding sanitizer so there is not an opportunity for recontamination of the food contact surfaces prior to production of the food product. Some organisms thrive in central sanitizer systems and swabbing after adding sanitizer would detect any problems. Swabbing after the application of sanitizer is acceptable so long as sanitizer dosage strengths, and application time are sufficient. The surface does NOT have to be dry prior to swabbing and because all reagents are food-grade safe, it does not require re-cleaning after sampling.
While it is true that a PMT is inherently more sensitive to light, an ATP sanitation monitoring system that employs this technology is not inherently more sensitive to ATP. There are two factors that determine the lower limit of detection for ATP systems - the sensitivity to light of the luminometer and the chemiluminescent reaction of the reagents in the sampler / swab that produces that light. In other words, it is possible to balance the chemistry to produce more light with an equivalent level of ATP to offset any gain from a more sensitive luminometer. This is the approach we have taken with the AccuPoint system. This balancing has resulted in a limit of detection of 2.6 femtomoles.
This means that our system can detect a very small amount of ATP on a surface or in a water sample. This compares to 2.9 for the BioTrace system and 3.0 for the Charm Lum-T. Any discussion concerning sensitivity also has to take into account industry standard practices. When we state a limit of detection, this simply means that our system can reliably detect this level of ATP. All of the users we know are concentrating on cutoff levels ranging from 100 to 300 RLU as their standard for pass/fail. A reading at the very low end, say 25, means the surface or water sample is very clean. There is virtually no way in practice to clean to an ATP system's level of detection. Unless you were to set your pass / fail limits to 25, why does the sensitivity matter? We chose to utilize the Photo-Diode technology due to its reputation for stability and low maintenance needs. We have a great deal of experience at Neogen with PMT-based systems and are keenly aware of the service issues these products pose. We saw this as a major issue for us our customers who do not want to have to take the time out of their very busy schedules to deal with a service problem.
