HACCP for grains

Hello, 

We are introducing a line of whole grains intended to be ground into flour and used for cooking.

Because this is an ingredient that will be cooked, should I forgo control measures for microorganisms at unsafe levels, as the flour will be cooked at a temperature that kills any microorganisms?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Hi snichols,

I am not sure from a HACCP standpoint that it is not a good idea to skip control measures for micro-organisms, because not all flour is baked with afterwards.

Here is a recipe for No Bake Cookie Dough Truffles that includes flour, but is never baked: http://www.gotchocol...dough-truffles/

It might be a different story if your company is the one that is doing the baking though. 

I would also like to add that if you are baking these items with this flour in house, and know that this is an adequate step to kill the micro-organisms, then I think it would fit well in your HACCP plan. As long as your company only plans to use it as a baking process there, you are just putting your CCP of baking to a "specific degree" for "allotted amount of time" later in the process. You don't need two kill steps then. At least that is my interpretation of the HACCP process.

Hi snichols

some details needed. Time/temperature Profile? Water content? Does cooked means cooked in water?

Flour can be cntaminated with Bacillus cereus which is not easy to inactivate

Rgds

moskito