9 replies to this topic

[justinofaustin]

I have a ready-to-eat flour tortilla line in my facility.  A customer of mine is asking for a pretty high volume of par baked tortillas.  Can I use the same line if each par baked run is followed by a sanitation cycle and pathogen swabbing?  

[Setanta]

Welcome to the forums!

How long are your runs? Daily, weekly, longer?

Edited by Setanta, 07 May 2026 - 06:55 PM.

[jfrey123]

What are the risks with your par baked tortillas passing through equipment that you're currently expecting fully cooked tortillas to pass through?  Is the par bake sufficient to control potential pathogen or other microbiological issues?  And will your standard sanitation protocol control the hazard(s) introduced by passing par baked tortillas through that equipment?

 

If yes, then I think it's perfectly justifiable to accept it as a practice.  But then I expect you'll need to update your HACCP plans with a new flow chart and risk analysis (which might need to be communicated to your SQF CB prior to remain within your scope).  You'll probably need to develop documentation of the par baked tortillas as a new product you're offering for sale, one that will be destined for further processing, along with a product spec and different controls and shelf-life data.  Will you provide this customer cooking instructions to ensure they don't come back and blame you for their improper handling of your tortillas into their finished good or however they intend to sell them?

 

This ain't some quick "just sell them some of our WIP, it'll work out..."

[Shrimper]

Why not do the ready-to-eat tortillas first, then the par-baked? 

[Tony-C]

Hi justinofaustin,

 

 

Welcome to the IFSQN forums

 

As per the previous post it is better to run par baked after baked, then clean. This is a micro question in that is the par baked process sufficient to achieve the required microbiological levels in terms of pathogen elimination and shelf life?

 

If the par baked tortillas are microbiologically safe then there shouldn’t be a problem. If they are likely to contain pathogens and introduce microbiological contamination to your production line then that is a whole new ball game and I think jfrey123’s post sums it up quite well. In that case, you will need to review your current HACCP System for baked tortillas, carry out a new Hazard Analysis for the par baked tortillas and revisit your sanitation, validation and verification regimes.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

[GMO]

How par baked is par baked?

 

Baking is normally well in excess of temperatures required to kill vegetative pathogens. So will you still be reaching temperatures hotter than that? If so, the controls you need may be minimal and more around how you pack the par baked product as I'm assuming the product will have higher water activity, and possibly long life and so more prone to yeast and mould growth on storage. A lot of products like this are MAP packed.

 

A good rule of thumb is if you're not going to need to chill the part baked product for food safety reasons, your worries about clean down and pathogen swabbing are probably overstated. Not saying a clean down is a bad idea of course.

[MDaleDDF]

I was also going to say if the par baked reach kill step when the customer finishes them, that helps a lot....  GMO spot on there.

Edited by MDaleDDF, 08 May 2026 - 12:46 PM.

[GMO]

I was also going to say if the par baked reach kill step when the customer finishes them, that helps a lot....  GMO spot on there.

 

Thanks, I think you raised a second point that was equally valid. I was thinking more that to get a stable product that's not dough you're probably above a vegetative pathogen kill step but I think you've raised a second point too that the product will then also go through a second baking stage. Doesn't stop cross contact risk in factory but that really depends on what temperature that first bake reaches on whether that's a problem or not.

 

Have you measured the temperatures of what the part bake will reach OP?

[justinofaustin]

According to AIB International, flour tortillas need to be >170 degrees fahrenheit for 30 seconds for the oven to be considered a kill step.  The par baked tortillas will not accomplish this, thus, potentially introducing pathogens to food contact surfaces beyond the oven.  I just  think that no matter how intensive post-sanitation pathogen swabbing in the RTE zone is, most auditors are going to have a problem with this.

 

 

[GMO]

 

According to AIB International, flour tortillas need to be >170 degrees fahrenheit for 30 seconds for the oven to be considered a kill step.  

 

 

Won't it? That's only 76.6oC in numbers I understand. Gluten starts to set somewhere between 70 and 85oC so I guess it's possible. But my point being is if you're at, say, 74oC, isn't it just raising it slightly so your part bake is a kill step? Would that really make a vast difference to the product?