Patent ID: 7132249

Claim:
A method for determining that a food contact surface has been sufficiently cleaned, after contact with an allergenic food, so that the surface does not contain at least 5 parts per million of the allergenic food, the method comprising: a) obtaining a sample from the surface; b) reacting said sample with reagents that generate luminescence in the presence of 0.05 femtomoles, or less, of ATP, said reagents comprising luciferin and luciferase; c) exposing said sample, combined with said reagents, to a luminescence detector; and d) detecting the luminescence generated by the reaction of said sample with said reagents; and e) calculating the total amount of luminescence generated, by the reaction of said reagents with said sample, during a predetermined period of time, wherein the total luminescence generated, during the predetermined period of time, is used to determine whether the surface may contain at least 5 parts per million of the allergenic food.