BS EN 13697:2023

BS EN 13697:2023
General purpose disinfection
Test organisms
Enterococcus hirae
Escherichia coli
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Staphylococcus aureus

Candida albicans (Yeasticidal)

Aspergillus brasiliensis (Tested in addition to C. albicans for a fungicidal claim)

Additional strains may be chosen if required for specific applications
Test Temperature
From 4°C to 40°C (tests at room temperature between 18 - 25°C)
Contact Time
In a range from 1 min to 60 min (from 1 min to 5 min at intervals of 1 min, and from 5 min to 60 min at intervals of 5 min)
Conditions
Clean conditions
Dirty conditions
For the dairy industry

(This is dependent on the manufacturer’s usage instructions for the product)
Log reduction required to pass
> 4 log for bactericidal testing
>3 log for yeasticidal/fungicidal testing

The EN 13697 is the phase 2 step 2 test for disinfectant products in the food, industrial, domestic and institutional (FIDI) areas. It is the most common surface test we carry out and is a mandatory test for the UK and EU market. The only exception to this would be if the product is designed for the medical or veterinary market, in which case alternative testing is required. Although there are 6 test organisms listed in the EN 13697 standard, only 5 are mandatory according to ECHA. These are the 4 bacteria and C. albicans. However, to make a fungicidal claim, A. brasiliensis testing would also be required.

The EN 13697 is a surface test, which means the product applied to the surface is undiluted.  For the EN 13697 test, a known number of organisms are mixed with a relevant interfering substance, and 50µl is applied to the surface of a stainless-steel disc. The disc is dried, and once fully dry, 100µl of product is applied to the dried surface for the specified contact time, covering the organism.  Once the contact time is up, the disc is transferred to a neutralising solution to halt the action of the product and recover any remaining organism on the disc. The solution is diluted and plated out onto relevant culture media for microbial counts, and the log reduction is calculated. During the test, a water control is used as a reference to the product being tested, and the log reduction calculation is determined based on the difference between the product and the water control. In addition, other controls are also used to validate the test.

Additional organism strains may be chosen if required for specific applications. For example, organisms related to food poisoning could be tested if the product application was relevant to food preparation.

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