8 replies to this topic

[Mendeljev]

Dear All,

A customer is asking us if we can bottle their mayonaisse in small jars for them. They will deliver the mayonnaise, we have to fill it.
As we have some free capacity on this line, we could do this.

My major concern is secundary microbiological infections when filling this mayo in the glass jars.

On the internet i found that these jars needs to be pre sterilised, but when watching youtube video's that show some mayonnaise production lines, i cannot see this stage. Can anyone tell me if this step is needed ?

Also it would be great to know what kind of microorganisms to expect by doing this ? Yeasts and lacto bacili ?

Thanks for your input

Kind regards,

Mendeljev

[SUSHIL]

Hello mr Mendeljev,

I would like to know the oil content of Mayonnaise and what is the acidifying agent ,are they adding any spices,which eggs they are using (pasteurised/Non pasteurised).Are they Haccp certified.Are they carrying out micro analysis of the raw material & final product like- APC, yeast and Molds ,E.coli, Salmonella etc. What is the pH of final product. How will the Mayonnaise be transported to your factory and at what temp.

In your factory premises are prerequisite programs in place like-personnel hygiene, GMP, pest control,CIP ,etc.

what you are filling presently in the line which will have spare capacity for this mayonnaise filling.

Also remember that egg used in mayonnaise is an allergen.

Regards

Sushil

[Mendeljev]

Dear Sushil

Thank you for your fast answer !

My company is producing all types of spreads (meat/fish/vegetables/ etc...). The only big difference with a mayo/ sauce producer is that all our products are pasteurised or sterilised. So this means that i don't have experience in handling non heat threated products
We are currently in an internal study fase of this project. I just want to be prepared beforehand.

We are BRC and IFS certified so yes we have all these prp's in our factory. Offcourse we will need to change HACCP when we are actually going to do this project.

My question was more to get a feeling on this type of products and their process, so

- what kind of microbiological issues can be expected
- are glass bottles being sterilised before filling or not ....

[fred.fsne]

Mendeljev,

The largest issue with re-packing a natural mayonnaise (made without artificial preservatives) is maintaining shelflife. As Mayo is packed cold, it is essential to control recontamination from yeasts, mold, and certain heterofermantitive lactic acid bacteria. The formulation of the mayo (reduced water activity and reduced pH) provides most of the VP & SP hazard control. Commercial mayo production micro quality is assurred by using a continuous and closed manufacturing process, for this pasteurized product, that is sterilized at the start of the run. The success of your opportunity for re-packing mayo will be largely dependent on maintaining the microbial integrity of the supplied mayonnaise as your facility handles it, of which the package sterility is just one point of concern.

Good luck with the project,

Fred Jewett, Food Science New England

[Rizwan Ali]

Totally agreed with fred.

Glass jars must be sterilized. this step shoulb be just prior to fillig.
For microbes, along with yeast you may expect salmonella if eggs are there and product is not being pasturized properly. Suhil has pointed all concerned microbes. You need to study the composition first.

[SUSHIL]

Dear Sushil

Thank you for your fast answer !

My company is producing all types of spreads (meat/fish/vegetables/ etc...). The only big difference with a mayo/ sauce producer is that all our products are pasteurised or sterilised. So this means that i don't have experience in handling non heat threated products
We are currently in an internal study fase of this project. I just want to be prepared beforehand.

We are BRC and IFS certified so yes we have all these prp's in our factory. Offcourse we will need to change HACCP when we are actually going to do this project.

My question was more to get a feeling on this type of products and their process, so

- what kind of microbiological issues can be expected
- are glass bottles being sterilised before filling or not ....

Hello,Mr Mendeljev,

Normally mayonnaise is recommended to be packed in a separate line where other products are not filled.Reason being it is highly viscous and forms 1 mm thick layer inside s.s.pipelines,transfer pump,filling piston and filling nozzles.

It is very difficult to clean without 100 % dismantling of all pipes,opening transfer pump,filling pistons,and filling nozzles and putting brushes inside s.s.pipelines to remove it.Any laziness on the part of operator in cleaning than you will see that small balls of white mayonnaise occasionally entering your next product being filled through the same line,and at repeated intervals.

Regarding bottles cleaning,or sterilisation of bottles-if you are getting bottles packed properly with polyliners Covering the bottle properly from manufacturer,than you need to have an inspection by person to check bottles whether they are clean with no foreign matter before filling.

Also mayonnaise should not be exposed to air and best filled under vacuum to prevent rancidity during storage.

Regarding, micro contamination of mayonnaise during filling, you have to periodically check the incoming product for Apc,yeast and molds,and for pathogens,ph should be below 4.5 during filling and after filling and you have to have certificate of analysis (COA),

regarding micro parameters and counter check with your lab.


And after filling you to recheck if micro load for above parameters has increased after filling ,if yes than there is a problem in your facility and filling.

Normally if received product is microbilogically stable than during filling there will not be much problem in your certified factory.

Regards ,

Sushil

[Charles.C]

Dear Mendeljev,

I deduce you are not yet familiar with (cold process) mayonnaise type products. It is not my area also however I hv selected some links and extracts from my archives which address some of yr queries, microbiological etc. Obviously some of the info. duplicates previous comments.

It does seem to me that you would be advised to be well-assured of the proposed input material quality (and its process) since you are presumably totally responsible for the final output.

I noted that comment in extract below on filling material somewhat different to previous post. Maybe it depends on specific procedure / material etc., intended market.
(I also noticed a pre-sterilised comment in another link, probably same one as yourself -
http://www.madehow.c...Mayonnaise.html


http://www.dressings..._Dressings.html

http://www.fda.gov/F...s/ucm094147.htm
(eg section 6)

 ss1 - mayonnaise, control parameters.png   137.04KB   33 downloads
 ss2 - mayonnaise, pathogens.png   215.29KB   32 downloads
 ss3 - mayonnaise, stability.png   117.64KB   28 downloads
 ss4 - mayonnaise, ingredient issues.png   43.5KB   28 downloads
 ss5 - mayonnaise cold process points.png   103.91KB   23 downloads
 ss6 - delicatessen salads PDF File.pdf   6.09MB   154 downloads

Rgds / Charles.C

[Mendeljev]

Thank you all for this good information. To be honest I was against this project from the start, but the management tends to be in the spirit of "we can do everything ourselves". Thanks to this information, i had enough to convince them not just to go boldly where no man has gone before :)

Thank you charles for the links & files, i stored them, they will come handy sometime


Kind regards,
Mendeljev

[w.weber]

Hi,

I think this depends, what kind of product you are filling. If it is really mayonnaise, the product should be self stable (low aw-value, pH<4, high salt and/or sugar). If you have lower fat content, it is getting "more interesting". But if you take some precautions on the glass side (pallets streched, no card board between layers, better plastic, blowing air during having glass on a glass turning device), problems on the glass side should be low (as usually glass is blown on really high temperatures, therefor risk of contamination is less). All trouble I have had in my all company resulted more in errors during production of the cream (wrong temperature conditions during production) and resulted in contamination of yeast, and lactic bacteria, but sometimes also moulds.
Hope this helps.

Yours

Werner