Reducing Yeasts in Orange Juice

Hi all,

At our facility part of what we produce is a squeezed orange juice with no additives of any description. We just machine squeeze the juice, bottle it, seal it and store it (refrigerated of course) before dispatch. I've just sent it off for micro testing and the results have come back as >300cfu/ml presence of yeasts. I've known us to have samples in the past containing <100cfu/ml and I don't really know where these elevated figures have come from. Is this just poor hygiene meaning the problem can be solved by cleaning and retesting or is there something more sinister going on that I need to look into more closely?

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Andy

Hi Andy,

Your contamination could come from equipment, air or packaging, you will need to do swabs, exposure plates and bottle rinses to investigate. I have previously had Y&M issues due to packaging being delivered in cardboard boxes which can be quite heavily contaminated.

Kind regards,

Tony

Thank you for your advice Tony, I'll make a point of investigating using the points you mentioned.

Andy

Hi Andy,

Have you checked the raw materials. From our experience, orange skin can (and does) hold some interesting bacteria.

Hi BrummyJim, no I hadn't considered checking the skin and had no idea you would be looking at much bacteria inside orange peel. Would you recommend doing this by swabbing and sending to the lab?

Regards,

Andy

Hi Andy,

I don't know the best way as we don't press fruit ourselves. We have had issues with citrus from suppliers. Swabbing should work though. If the skin is the source, it's not going to be easy to remove it without pasteurisation or careful pre-processing.

Ok well thank you for your input and I will take the advice from you both moving forward.

Regards,

Andy