A bed rail can pass a visual inspection and still carry organic residue. Environmental services teams know this, yet most hospital cleaning checks still come down to someone looking at a surface and deciding it seems fine.

Kikkoman Biochemifa Company wants to replace that judgment call with a number. The company, part of the Kikkoman Group, is a sponsor of the ISSA Healthcare Hub at ISSA Show North America 2026, taking place Nov. 16-19 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Hub activities will steer attendees to the Kikkoman Biochemifa team for hands-on time with its ATP Test (Kikkoman A3) system.

Alissa Shida is regional manager at Kikkoman Biochemifa, where she supports the company’s overseas hygiene monitoring business. She knows the Kikkoman name usually brings one product to mind.

“Many people recognize Kikkoman for soy sauce, but we also develop testing solutions that help organizations evaluate their cleaning,” Shida said.

A brewer’s eye for the microscopic

The jump from soy sauce to surface testing is shorter than it sounds. Brewing soy sauce depends on microorganisms, and Kikkoman’s research division traces its roots to a brewing laboratory founded in 1904. Decades of work with enzymes and microbes eventually carried the company into bioluminescence testing. Kikkoman introduced its Lumitester C-100 luminometer in 1997, and Kikkoman Biochemifa was established as its own company in 2011.

That history still shapes how the company talks about its purpose. In a 2025 message after becoming president of Kikkoman Biochemifa, Yoshiaki Asami described the mission as making “the invisible power of microorganisms visible and useful.” In a hospital, that means putting a figure on residue nobody can see.

Three molecules instead of one

Most ATP testing looks for adenosine triphosphate, the energy molecule found in living cells and organic matter. ATP breaks down over time, though, into adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP), and a conventional test can miss what remains. Kikkoman’s A3 technology measures all three. A LuciPac A3 Surface swab goes into the handheld Lumitester Smart, which reports a reading in relative light units.

“Our Lumitester Smart and LuciPac A3 measure three molecules, ATP, ADP and AMP, that are present in organic residues,” Shida explained. “The measurement takes just 10 seconds, giving cleaning teams immediate feedback on residues that may remain on the surface.”

Speed matters here because the core problem is one of perception.

“One major challenge is that the surface can look clean while still having organic residues on it,” Shida noted. “Cleaning teams need a practical way to check their work, and we help by providing objective numerical data to evaluate cleaning performance.”

The ATP Test (Kikkoman A3) won the 2025 ISSA Excellence Award in the Service & Technology category and is listed in the ISSA Clean Standards.

A bed rail in 10 seconds

On the unit, the process is simple. A technician cleans a bed rail or a patient transport cart, swabs it and inserts the swab into the reader. The result comes back in seconds and gets compared against the cleaning limits the facility has established. A surface that falls short is cleaned again and retested on the spot.

“This immediate feedback helps teams identify areas for improvement, demonstrate progress and support staff training with measurable results,” Shida said.

Shida was careful to define what the test does and doesn’t do.

“A3 measures residual organic contamination. It does not identify specific pathogens or confirm disinfection,” she stated. “It supports cleaning verification within the facility’s wider infection prevention program.”

Hands-on time at the booth

Visitors who stop by will get a working introduction to how A3 testing fits into everyday healthcare cleaning, from taking a measurement to deciding what to do with it.

“In a few minutes with our team, attendees can learn what ATP, ADP and AMP tell us about remaining residues, how the testing process works and how to identify useful testing points within their facility,” Shida explained.

The team will also show the Lumitester Smart app, which organizes results by location, tracks trends over time and lets organizations share data across facilities. Once a problem surface keeps turning up in the data, it stops being a hunch.

“For a supervisor, that can help identify a surface that repeatedly needs attention and support a more focused conversation about cleaning practices,” Shida added. “We want visitors to leave with practical ideas for turning measurement results into action.”

Numbers that support the staff

Asami has said he wants customers to get support and partnership from Kikkoman Biochemifa along with its products. Inside the company, he calls the culture he’s after “professional all-in teamwork,” where nobody is left to work alone. Shida’s advice for facilities runs along the same lines.

“My advice is to start with a manageable, consistent process,” Shida said. “Work with your environmental services and infection prevention teams to select priority surfaces, clarify who cleans them and agree on how cleaning will be checked.”

From there, the readings are meant to help frontline workers improve rather than catch them out.

“Then use the results to support your staff. If a location repeatedly needs attention, look at the cleaning technique, equipment, available time and whether responsibilities are clear,” Shida explained. “Give timely feedback and recognize improvement.”

A reading on its own doesn’t change anything on the unit. What happens next does.

“A measurement is most valuable when it leads to a useful action,” Shida said. “Combining clear procedures, practical training and regular feedback helps teams build confidence and improve consistency over time.” To learn more about the ATP Test (Kikkoman A3), visit the company website.