1 reply to this topic

[Linda J Rohloff]

Manufacturing products in a high risk processing facility manufacturing meals as ready to reheat; what are the requirements with regards ingredients - my understanding is all items must be heat treated but NPD wish to add cheese sprinkles - what do people think?

 

[Evans X.]

Greetings Linda,

 

Could you be a bit more descriptive about the process? Meaning for example are the cheese sprinkles added at the end of the heating process or during or after the meal has cooled down? Is there a blast chill/freeze step involved after the meal is ready in order to store them?

If I interpret correctly then you want to add it after the meal is out of the heating process. If that is the case then the best solution in any case would be to add it in a separate pack attached on the meal package (eg like the spices in instant noodles).

If there is blast chill/freeze then you could examine the possibility of adding it on top of the meal, but you should back it up with data from microbiological analysis during the process (zero point sample being when the meal is out of the line and then when cheese is added, during chill/freeze, during storage and after thawing).

 

Other experts here might have better proposals or that suit your needs better.

 

Hope this helps,

Regards!