Hmm. I audit HACCP plans and I'd be sat there thinking about what level of non conformance this is looking like by this point. I've asked you, what specific hazard you're controlling for. Specific. You've said "mould, fungal and other micro" and now "mould and fungus". Those are not specific hazards. Most yeasts and moulds are not pathogenic. Some create mycotoxins. What is the hazard and what is the control measure in the syrup controlling it?
Also I am familiar with the product, I've eaten it many times, you don't need to explain the product to me, you need to be able to explain your decision process to an auditor. So, if that sugar syrup is effective at controlling those food safety hazards (once you have properly defined them), why do you then need to chill the product? You're missing my point in I do understand chilling later will not remove the hazard for CCP3 but chilling later makes no sense if CCP3 is required and effective unless there is some reason why it's only effective for a limited time. Do you understand that? The flow creates so many questions around the understanding of HACCP and food safety that I would dig and dig... And I'm not trying to be combative but the answers you're giving suggest some knowledge gaps which would make me dig more. Does that make sense?
When you do your hazard analysis it's really important you clearly and specifically define the hazard. So this is normally described as "presence, introduction, growth or survival" and for microbiological hazards it will not normally be accepted that you do not define the specific species or group of species. In this syrup stage I'm still unclear what you're controlling for. You need to define that, understand why it's there (has it survived frying at the previous stage or is it being introduced here with a risk of growth and mycotoxin formation?) Then later you will need to define the control measure which is effective against the hazard that you can point the auditor in the direction of why you've chosen it. So for example, if your sugar syrup is, say, 50% sugar by weight, that has an Aw of xx in which yy mould cannot grow according to academic paper... etc.
At the moment I'm unsure how you could possibly have chosen the CCPs you have without being clear about the hazards you have. I'm suspicious that you may just have copied a process from somewhere else or inherited it... Would I be right?
Thank you for the detailed reply again.
I haven't copied it from anywhere, I run a small food company and I'm trying to establish our documentation according to the best of my knowledge and industry experience. However, I'm doing HACCP for the first time so that may be one reason that some points are lacking which as I understanding will need further refinement and review.
So I'll ask to understand and put my point across of why I believe chilling is needed after cooling in the sugar syrup:
Cooling in the sugar syrup lets the fried Gulab Jamun soak up the syrup and take on its typical sweetness. During this period, the sugar solution prevents if we put it very specifically, the growth of fungal colonies beyond microbiologically defined limits (it may grow if the Gulab Jamun was not kept soaked), hence it becomes a CCP.
Now for the short term, this works but let's say, 14 days, letting it remain soaked in the syrup would not be as effective as chilling to maintain the Jamun's shelf life and freshness.
Therefore, after obtaining the benefit of "sugar soaking" during the cooling period, we shift it to the chilling step.
The chilling step itself becomes a CCP because now if the temperature is not controlled during this step, again fungal colonies which we by experience know to grow on such products become a danger. For example if the temperature is 15*C (fridge is not working), and the product is not soaked in the sugar syrup either now, it will develop fungal spores which are visible after a few days.
I agree on defining specific hazards and that's a point I will implement in our HACCP plans.