25 replies to this topic

[Rachu19]

Hello all, can anyone help with guidance on cooling validation of sauces. We cook our sauces for 90 degree C for 10 minutes. Is there a legal limit to which the core temperature to be reached <8 degrees within 4 hours? Any guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

rachu

[kfromNE]

Hello all, can anyone help with guidance on cooling validation of sauces. We cook our sauces for 90 degree C for 10 minutes. Is there a legal limit to which the core temperature to be reached <8 degrees within 4 hours? Any guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

rachu

In the US

 

[Rachu19]

Thank you for this, I take it that this applies to UK as well. 

 

I wanted clarification if a core temperature of <8 degrees for sauces is acceptable if the product temperature comes down in <90 minutes? 

 

thanks

[Charles.C]

Thank you for this, I take it that this applies to UK as well. 

 

I wanted clarification if a core temperature of <8 degrees for sauces is acceptable if the product temperature comes down in <90 minutes? 

 

thanks

 

Hi Rachu,

 

I'm afraid you cannot make above assumption.

[Charles.C]

UK seems to be less definitive than USA, eg FSA -

 

cool cooked food quickly at room temperature and then place in the fridge within one to two hours

https://www.food.gov...ygiene/chilling

 

IIRC there is a previous extended Forum discussion on this general topic but almost all the data quoted was ex USA.

 

Some Local Authorities seem to have interpreted the above slightly more precisely/conservatively, eg -

check the time between cooking food and chilling it - this shouldn’t be longer than one to two hours

https://www.northdev...rature-control/

 

Other UK "interpretations" also seem to exist, eg -

Cook-Chill Requirements

For cook-chill production there are specific requirements for the cooking, cooling, storage, transport and reheating of products. A specific HACCP system would need to be developed and implemented to cover the temperature requirements for this type of food production. Food that has been cooked and is going to be chilled down and then reheated must be:

• cooked thoroughly to a core temperature of 75°C (for 30 seconds) to destroy pathogens

• cool rapidly to 5°C (within 90 minutes) to prevent the germination of bacterial spores and subsequent bacterial growth – using blast chiller or ice baths/cold running water

• store food between 0°C and 5°C

• reheat to a core temperature of 75°C (for 30 seconds) or 82°C in Scotland

• any reheated food that is not consumed must be destroyed.

It is essential that food handlers follow these procedures and that they understand the importance of keeping high-risk food at the correct temperatures. Food handlers also need to understand that hot food must not be placed into a fridge or freezer
(the storage temp. looks more like US than UK datum)
https://app.croneri....dstuffs/indepth

Edited by Charles.C, 07 July 2021 - 10:57 AM.
added

[kfromNE]

UK seems to be less definitive than USA, eg FSA -

 

https://www.food.gov...ygiene/chilling

 

IIRC there is a previous extended Forum discussion on this general topic but almost all the data quoted was ex USA.

 

Some Local Authorities seem to have interpreted the above slightly more precisely/conservatively, eg -

 

Other UK "interpretations" also seem to exist, eg -

I gave a simplistic and generally accepted version for FDA products. The USDA is a little different and has this guidance

 

https://www.fsis.usd...lines/2017-0007.

[Charles.C]

I gave a simplistic and generally accepted version for FDA products. The USDA is a little different and has this guidance

 

https://www.fsis.usd...lines/2017-0007.

 

The conclusion seems to be that UK requirements are significantly stricter than USA (unusual ?). However the scientific basis for the UK times is not immediately evident.

 

This well-known (albeit rather old) document appears to be the UK operative control and apparently parallels EC -

 

 uk-07039-temp-control-guidance.pdf   191.31KB   69 downloads

Edited by Charles.C, 07 July 2021 - 12:35 PM.
added

[Scampi]

The links Charles has provided are for food handlers, and do not speak to food processing

 

What type of sauce----this matters

[Charles.C]

Just for interest, the Chilled Food Organization in UK seems to disagree with FSA's expectations, ie -
 

 

Cooling
Heated product should be cooled as quickly as possible through the temperature range 63ºC to 5ºC or less to minimise risk of spore germination and outgrowth. The time taken for cooling will vary from product to product, but as a guideline, should be no more than 4 hours.

https://www.chilledf...rg/food-safety/

 

Take your pick.

 

PS - Just to illustrate some of the operational variations, a 2014 review noted -

 

The general cook-chill process in Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and the UK requires a thermal treatment in the range of 65–80 °C followed by a chilling process to achieve a temperature of 10–3 °C within 1.5–4 h and then stored at a temperature within 0–3 °C

Edited by Charles.C, 07 July 2021 - 01:02 PM.
added

[Scampi]

Unless they are canning the sauce............https://foodsafety.w...osing a Hot.pdf   in which case cooling times would be irrelevant

[Charles.C]

Unless they are canning the sauce............https://foodsafety.w...osing a Hot.pdf   in which case cooling times would be irrelevant

 

I don't think the OP would make sense for canned.

 

Rachu ?

[Rachu19]

Thank you for the response. 

 

We cook our sauces to 90 degrees for 10 minutes, hot fill in bags and then goes into the tumble chiller. the temperature drops from 80 degrees to <5 degrees les s than  2hours.  

 

Is it acceptable practise to cool it to <8 Degrees in 60 minutes? I was not able to find any regulation which states that cooling to 8 degrees is acceptable. 

 

we will be carrying out validation etc to ensure that the product is safe.

 

thanks

rachu 

[Scampi]

I would be chilling to less than 5C if I were you.............8 is still quite warm--err on the side of caution

 

Does your product require refrigeration?  or is it shelf stable?

 

 

*you can hot fill and hold glass jars----still canning sauce even though it's not a tin can

[Charles.C]

Thank you for the response. 

 

We cook our sauces to 90 degrees for 10 minutes, hot fill in bags and then goes into the tumble chiller. the temperature drops from 80 degrees to <5 degrees les s than  2hours.  

 

Is it acceptable practise to cool it to <8 Degrees in 60 minutes? I was not able to find any regulation which states that cooling to 8 degrees is acceptable.

 

we will be carrying out validation etc to ensure that the product is safe.

 

thanks

rachu 

 

I guess this UK Regulation supports yr queried situation (presumably oriented to UK's max.refrigerator  temperature) -

 

Cooling

It is important to cool food as quickly as possible in order to prevent the growth of bacteria. Ideally this should be cooled to less than 8 degrees Celcius within 90 minutes.

 

 

https://www.northdev...rature-control/

[Charles.C]

I would be chilling to less than 5C if I were you.............8 is still quite warm--err on the side of caution

 

Does your product require refrigeration?  or is it shelf stable?

 

 

*you can hot fill and hold glass jars----still canning sauce even though it's not a tin can

 

Hi Scampi,

 

Good questions.

 

Type of sauce unknown.

 

My guess is not shelf stable so a cook-chill process (pasteurization based on nonproteolytic C.botulinum) with product stored under refrigeration.

 

Rachu ??

[Rachu19]

I would be chilling to less than 5C if I were you.............8 is still quite warm--err on the side of caution

 

Does your product require refrigeration?  or is it shelf stable?

 

 

*you can hot fill and hold glass jars----still canning sauce even though it's not a tin can

 

hi, 

 

we are currently chilling to 5 degrees C, but were checking surface temperature rather than core temperature. Although we achieve a surface temperature of <5 degrees the core temperature is higher and hence the thought of changing the CCP to <8 degrees Core temperature within 90 minutes. 

 

the product is kept chilled at <8 degrees. 

[Rachu19]

Hi Scampi,

 

Good questions.

 

Type of sauce unknown.

 

My guess is not shelf stable so a cook-chill process (pasteurization based on nonproteolytic C.botulinum) with product stored under refrigeration.

 

Rachu ??

 

thanks Charles for the link to the northdevon gov website. 

 

Yes you are right, we cook-- chill our sauces and they are to be kept refrigerated

 

thank you

[Ted S]

Hello Rachu19. 

 

The real answer is that it depends on the pH and Water Activity of the final, cooked product. Although you are selling as refrigerated, are you selling it as refrigerated for food safety or for food quality? If for example you are making a BBQ Sauce that has a pH of 3.6 and you need to cook it to set the starch, you DO NOT need to cool the product through the danger zone for Food Safety since the Pathogens of concern in a BBQ Sauce will not grow at a pH of 3.6. In fact, many manufacturers of BBQ Sauce will let their products cool naturally in the warehouse over a period of days/weeks since nothing of concern will grow out at 3.6. 

 

Regardless, the answer depends on the pH and Aw (or combination of) to answer you correctly. I attached a very good reference tool from the FDA Food Code that identifies, by pH and Aw, if a product is considered a TCS FOOD (means TIME/TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR SAFETY FOOD). If the pH and Aw values fall into the Non-TCS box, then you are not required to cool the cooked sauce for food safety. On the other hand, if the pH and Aw values for your product are "PA", it means that you must cool for Food Safety. Please keep in mind that the values that you use for pH and Aw should be the upper levels of the specification for each. For example, if your pH specification for this product is 4.0 - 4.4, you must use 4.4 in Table "A". If your range for Aw is 0.88 - 0.90, you must use the ) 0.90 value in Table "A". 

 

In addition, this is the same approach that you must take when assembling the HACCP/Food Safety plan for this product to determine if cooling is a CCP or not, and if refrigeration is a CCP or not. I hope this helps and I hope that it makes sense. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Ted

 

 

Attached Files

•  FDA Food Code 2017 pH Aw TCS Foods 8.28.19.pdf   96.3KB   61 downloads

[Charles.C]

Hello Rachu19. 

 

The real answer is that it depends on the pH and Water Activity of the final, cooked product. Although you are selling as refrigerated, are you selling it as refrigerated for food safety or for food quality? If for example you are making a BBQ Sauce that has a pH of 3.6 and you need to cook it to set the starch, you DO NOT need to cool the product through the danger zone for Food Safety since the Pathogens of concern in a BBQ Sauce will not grow at a pH of 3.6. In fact, many manufacturers of BBQ Sauce will let their products cool naturally in the warehouse over a period of days/weeks since nothing of concern will grow out at 3.6. 

 

Regardless, the answer depends on the pH and Aw (or combination of) to answer you correctly. I attached a very good reference tool from the FDA Food Code that identifies, by pH and Aw, if a product is considered a TCS FOOD (means TIME/TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR SAFETY FOOD). If the pH and Aw values fall into the Non-TCS box, then you are not required to cool the cooked sauce for food safety. On the other hand, if the pH and Aw values for your product are "PA", it means that you must cool for Food Safety. Please keep in mind that the values that you use for pH and Aw should be the upper levels of the specification for each. For example, if your pH specification for this product is 4.0 - 4.4, you must use 4.4 in Table "A". If your range for Aw is 0.88 - 0.90, you must use the ) 0.90 value in Table "A". 

 

In addition, this is the same approach that you must take when assembling the HACCP/Food Safety plan for this product to determine if cooling is a CCP or not, and if refrigeration is a CCP or not. I hope this helps and I hope that it makes sense. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Ted

 

Hi Ted,

 

I totally agree that it always helps to have an initial detailed knowledge of product aw, pH etc.

 

afai understand (post 15) the pasteurization process (typical temp/time)/refrigeration  here is prioritarily targetted to a (viable) pathogen(s). Presumably due not "low" pH.

 

Rachu ?

[Rachu19]

Hello Rachu19. 

 

The real answer is that it depends on the pH and Water Activity of the final, cooked product. Although you are selling as refrigerated, are you selling it as refrigerated for food safety or for food quality? If for example you are making a BBQ Sauce that has a pH of 3.6 and you need to cook it to set the starch, you DO NOT need to cool the product through the danger zone for Food Safety since the Pathogens of concern in a BBQ Sauce will not grow at a pH of 3.6. In fact, many manufacturers of BBQ Sauce will let their products cool naturally in the warehouse over a period of days/weeks since nothing of concern will grow out at 3.6. 

 

Regardless, the answer depends on the pH and Aw (or combination of) to answer you correctly. I attached a very good reference tool from the FDA Food Code that identifies, by pH and Aw, if a product is considered a TCS FOOD (means TIME/TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR SAFETY FOOD). If the pH and Aw values fall into the Non-TCS box, then you are not required to cool the cooked sauce for food safety. On the other hand, if the pH and Aw values for your product are "PA", it means that you must cool for Food Safety. Please keep in mind that the values that you use for pH and Aw should be the upper levels of the specification for each. For example, if your pH specification for this product is 4.0 - 4.4, you must use 4.4 in Table "A". If your range for Aw is 0.88 - 0.90, you must use the ) 0.90 value in Table "A". 

 

In addition, this is the same approach that you must take when assembling the HACCP/Food Safety plan for this product to determine if cooling is a CCP or not, and if refrigeration is a CCP or not. I hope this helps and I hope that it makes sense. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Ted

 

Hello Ted, 

 

thanks for the above reference, very useful indeed. Our hot sauces ie are not pH / aW controlled. They are cooked to 90Degree C for 10 minutes for clostridium Botulinum. Cooking and Cooling is our CCP. Storage is not a CCP for us. 

 

I mentioned previously that we are cooling to 5 degrees C within 2 hours and I was querying if we can do it <8 degrees in 1 hour;

 

thanks

rachu

[Rachu19]

Hi Ted,

 

I totally agree that it always helps to have an initial detailed knowledge of product aw, pH etc.

 

afai understand (post 15) the pasteurization process (typical temp/time)/refrigeration  here is prioritarily targetted to a (viable) pathogen(s). Presumably due not "low" pH.

 

Rachu ?

 

Hi Charles, 

 

You are right again :) this particular hot sauce is not low pH.

 

thanks

rachu

[Ted S]

Hello Rachu.

 

Thank you for the additional information. 

 

Since you are cooking at 90*C for 10 minutes, it sounds like you are targeting the "non-proteolytic" C. Bot. Since the "non-proteolytic" C Bot can grow at 3*C or below (vs. the proteolytic C Bot which grows at 10*C or below), refrigeration must be a CCP, otherwise there is a risk of storing the finished cooked sauce at too high of a refrigerated temperature which can then allow germination of the non-proteolytic C. Bot spores that survived your cook step. For this reason and due to the fact that the non-proteolytic C Bot can grow at lower refrigerated temps, you cannot cool to only 8*C. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Ted

[SUSHIL]

All Sauces like Tomato Ketchup,BBQ,Mayonnaise,Hot sauce ,Dressings etc have low pH below 4.5, as below this pH Cl.Bot does not grow .

Sauces like Tomato ketchup,Pizza Sauce Fruit drinks, are heated to 90C to kill vegetative organisms & Pathogens and filled hot at 90C in glass jars,Cans,Pouches and sealed immediately and Cooled in Cooling Tunnel below 25C for longer shelf life of 6- 12 Months.
Once opened these Sauces should be refrigerated & to be consumed within a Month.

Please check pH of your Sauce and if possible you can Modify your Sauce pH by lemon juice,Citric acid ,acetic acid or any other suitable mild acid.

[Charles.C]

Hello Rachu.

 

Thank you for the additional information. 

 

Since you are cooking at 90*C for 10 minutes, it sounds like you are targeting the "non-proteolytic" C. Bot. Since the "non-proteolytic" C Bot can grow at 3*C or below (vs. the proteolytic C Bot which grows at 10*C or below), refrigeration must be a CCP, otherwise there is a risk of storing the finished cooked sauce at too high of a refrigerated temperature which can then allow germination of the non-proteolytic C. Bot spores that survived your cook step. For this reason and due to the fact that the non-proteolytic C Bot can grow at lower refrigerated temps, you cannot cool to only 8*C. 

 

Thank you. 

 

Ted

 

Hi Ted,

 

The actual possibilities are quite complex. It is possible that UK Interpretations/Practices are different to USA.  Can study these illustrative  documents -

 

 BRC,CFA -Guidelines shelf-life chilled foods re.non-proteolytic C.botulinum,2018.pdf   429.79KB   33 downloads

 FSA,2020, safety-shelf-life-of-vacuum-and-MAP-chilled-foods-re-non-proteolytic-C.botulinum.pdf   379.36KB   25 downloads

 chilled foods,2020,C.botulinum.pdf   219.71KB   25 downloads

 chilled foods,2017,Leatherhead,C.botulinum.pdf   438.23KB   17 downloads

 chilled foods,2006,Campden,CFA etc.pdf   1.27MB   22 downloads

 

https://www.chilledf...for-shelf-life/

 

@ Rachu, I deduce this item is either MAP or VacPack ? Shelf life = ?

Edited by Charles.C, 11 July 2021 - 08:18 PM.
edied

[Rachu19]

Hi Ted,

 

The actual possibilities are quite complex. It is possible that UK Interpretations/Practices are different to USA.  Can study these illustrative  documents -

 

BRC,CFA -Guidelines shelf-life chilled foods re.non-proteolytic C.botulinum,2018.pdf

FSA,2020, safety-shelf-life-of-vacuum-and-MAP-chilled-foods-re-non-proteolytic-C.botulinum.pdf

chilled foods,2020,C.botulinum.pdf

chilled foods,2017,Leatherhead,C.botulinum.pdf

chilled foods,2006,Campden,CFA etc.pdf

 

https://www.chilledf...for-shelf-life/

 

@ Rachu, I deduce this item is either MAP or VacPack ? Shelf life = ?

 

Thank you Charles, the product is hot filled at >80 degrees bags and heat sealed. Shelf life is 35 days.