Use knowledge of the etiologic agent or implicated food to help inform the sampling site
 

Based on knowledge of the outbreak, the establishment may have cleaned or sanitized more heavily prior to your sampling. If you suspect this and it fits with the characteristics of the pathogen, move out to other sampling zones
 

Understand the four zones of environmental sampling (Zone 1: all direct food contact surfaces, Zone 2: areas directly adjacent to zone 1, Zone 3: The area immediately surrounding zone 2, Zone 4: The areas immediately surrounding zone 3). Think about what pathogens would be found in each zone.
 

During collection, try to work in teams of two to four: a sampler, a person logging and marking sample containers, and a person photographing the sampling.