8 replies to this topic

[sha837]

I work for a Fruit juice drinks manufacturing company (pakistan) in Tetra Pak 250ml cartons. We are in process of HACCP certification. following are 5 CCPs for HACCP system which were identified by our team. 1) CIP of Blending tanks and Product Lines. 2) Pasteurization 3) CIP of Pasteurizer and Homogenizer plants 4) CIP of filling machine 5) Sterlization of Packaging material by H2O2 solution.
I covered all other hazards through pre-requisite programs.
Please can anybody advice me if have chosen correct ccps cuz i read somewhere successful haccp system is that in which we have least ccps.
fro your convenience flowchart of our process is as under
purchase-reception/delivery-storage-blending-homogenization/pasteurization-filling-packing-distribution. we dont have cold storage facility so we store most of our pulp at room temperature with higher presservative levels.
Thanks a lot in anticipation

[Charles.C]

Dear Sha,

Well, BRC quotes Codex as it’s basic haccp reference. That still allows a lot of flexibility of course.

Not my product area but I would hv thought that CIP stages would usually be (generically) categorised within prerequisites. Unless perhaps there is some known reason for a substantial likelihood of their failure in yr specific process (hopefully not the case) which should be evident in yr hazard risk analysis. Or you have possibly decided to take a wide-scoped decision as to what level of risk yieds a CCP. This might be shown by yr risk matrix or chosen methodology .

Not saying that yr conclusions are necessarily wrong, just that the result may depend on yr own details. Expert opinion on specific process stages may occasionally also vary so that validation becomes involved as well.

I am guessing that “typical” CCPs for this classic process are available in the literature. Or possibly even within this forum (the US production of pasteurised orange juice is certainly haccp detailed here. From memory only, had 1-2,CCPs).

Rgds / Charles.C

[George @ Safefood 360°]

Hi Sha

The objective of HACCP is to identify and control food safety hazards. In order to use the principles of HACCP (CODEX in the case of the BRC) it is important to understand the product and the various intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics that make the product safe or unsafe.

Your process concerns the packing of a pasteurized juice product using a TetraPak system. You do not state clearly if the process is aseptic but there is sterilisation of the packaging prior to forming, filling and sealing.

An important point about this process. The primary objective is one of shelf life extension (Non Food Safety). Juice products are inherently subject to short shelf life from yeasts and moulds (low pH). The pasteurization process coupled with aseptic packing is an effective means of extending shelf life of these citric juice based products without the need to use chemical preservatives e.g. SO2. The temperature you are using to pasteurize will tell you a lot about its objectives.

Pasteurization is typically 72oC for 15 secs to obtain a lethal reduction of a specific target pathogen. If you are up to 90oC the objective here is to kill various yeasts than can cause spoilage i.e. shelf stable product. Of course it will also kill pathogens in the process since it will more than exceed a 5-log reduction in most target pathogens. In short depending on the temperature of heat treatment it may be a CCP. If the treatment is for a 5 log reduction included it as a CCP. If heat treatment is designed to produce shelf stable product you can consider leaving it out.

I think it is more than acceptable to deal with CIP as a operational PRP and not as critical control points.

Other CCP's that may be included are patulin, residual chemicals or heat stable toxins associated with yeasts and moulds. But strictly speaking these are issues relating to primary production and harvesting and should be addressed prior to you receiving the whole fruit / concentrate whichever is applicable. I would need to know more about your process scope to advise further.

The FDA Juice HACCP Reg is a useful document. But you should be aware that the Regulation does not always follow the principles as set out in CODEX (BRC cited) This is not unusual for regulatory bodies who prescribe HACCP rules for various product groups e.g. meat and seafood.

In summary you will be looking at 1-2 CCP's with heat treatment most likely being one of them.

In my opinion CIP will not be part of your CCP's

George

[GMO]

I am not familiar with the processes but with CCPs I always think "how would I feel if it wasn't done on one occasion?"

This is because CCPs are points in your process where lack of control will occur very quickly if they are not in place. If you're thinking "it won't hurt anyone" or "the juice might go fizzy due to yeast growth" then you're perhaps along the lines of talking yourself out of it.

George has raised a good point on temperature CCPs. I work in bakery at the moment but I've worked in ready meals, chocolate, sugar confectionery, sandwiches etc, etc. It seemed strange coming into bakery to challenge the baking CCP but that was one of the first things I did. I finally came to the conclusion that the baking process was for quality reasons not food safety ones. The difference in your situation to mine though is if we didn't bake the bread to 90oC then we would get collapse / poor slicing etc and we couldn't process it. With your juice I suspect it would not be immediately noticable if your target were not achieved.

So the pragmatist in me thinks that although strictly speaking I don't think the pasteurisation is a CCP, I would probably keep it as one because customers will expect it and the effects of not pasteurising effectively will not be immediately evident.

I agree with the previous posters that CIP has never been a CCP in my experience. Whether it's an oPRP or PRP is up to you. I still can't get my head around the point of oPRPs so you will have to excuse me on that score but IMO just because cleaning takes place inside some pipework does not mean it's a CCP. You wouldn't say cleaning a table was a CCP for example.

One thing you've not mentioned though is any controls for foreign matter. Whether these are PRPs or CCPs is up to your HACCP team but I would expect to see some level of filtration and / or metal detection?

[Charles.C]

Dear All,

Other than the specific tetrapak aspect, this is quite a popular topic on this forum.

The OP does not mention which juices are involved, a nod to E.coli O157 in apple juice is perhaps worth the space.

A lot more input / opinions in these 2 threads, and some others linked if really interested.

http://www.ifsqn.com...dpost__p__48399

http://www.ifsqn.com...dpost__p__41508

I certainly agree with GMO on one thing. OPRPs are a mystery to me also. Poorly-defined, poorly-explained and probably frequently misunderstood. Just take a pick, you will probably know more than the auditor.

Rgds / Charles.C

[FS consultant]

Hi,

The CCP's can be chlorination of water, metal detection, pasteurisation.

CIP may be OPRP

Rgds

Poulami

[Urban Explorer]

I worked for a juice manufacturer, cold fill.

Our CCPs were pasteurization temperatures/time, magnet check and screen check.

H2O2 was a quality check for us, pre-operational and once per shift, unless we had problems with the machine, then it was hourly. Making it a CCP can be overkill, in my opinion. I would say the same for the CIP. That's more of a control point. We had chart recorders and printouts of the CIP cycles which were acceptable as part of our SSOP (sanitation procedures). We validated the process by doing ATP bio luminescence swabs before filling tanks.

We performed accelerated shelf life studies on all products we produced, but we were not on a hold and test program.

If you are a front line producer for apple juice, meaning you actually process the apples yourself and do not receive it from a supplier in concentrate or single strength form, patulin would not be a CCP as long as it is supplied by an approved supplier.

I wish I could go back to juice! So much easier than meat.

All of these are from US standards, not sure if Pakistan is more or less strict.

[hohoangvu]

- I'm also working in Fruit juice factory. With principle of CCP, you should put it in After Sterilization Zone and Filter. 

[BrummyJim]

I would agree with Urban Explorer. My suppliers have pasteurisation, filtering/metal detection and time to storage temperature (and storage temperature) as CCPs These are semi-finished goods, not consumer packages. I haven't seen CIP as a CCP.