4.4 Examples of implementing specific food safety controls in specialty foods processing
Specialty Fruit Juice
Specialty fruit juices, such as pomegranate juice, mangosteen juice, and noni juice, are often claimed to contain a high content of health-promoting phytochemicals, including antioxidants and bioflavonoids. When a health claim is made on the label of juice products, the labeling should follow the FDA’s food-labeling regulation on health claims. If improperly handled, fruit juices can harbor pathogenic microorganisms and have been associated with food-borne illness outbreaks. The FDA has issued regulations that mandate the application of HACCP principles to the processing of fruit and vegetable juices. The HACCP plans shall include control measures that will consistently produce a minimum of 5 log reduction, for a period at least as long as the shelf life of the product when stored under normal and moderate abuse conditions, in the pertinent microorganism. For the purposesof this regulation, the “pertinent microorganism” is the most resistant microorganism of public health significance that is likely to occur in the juice, e.g.Escherichia coli O157:H7.
Pasteurization is a critical control point in juice processing. The heat process used in pasteurization increases the shelf life of juice by inactivating microorganisms and certain enzymes. To better maintain the color and flavor, flash pasteurization, also called high temperature short time (HTST) processing, is widely used for fruit juices. It will provide a safe product for the public, yet keep to a minimum the amount of flavor-degradation found in ultra-pasteurized products. In flash pasteurization, the minimum temperature used is 71.5°C for a holding time between 15 and 30 seconds. To ensure the success of pasteurization, the temperature of juice needs to be continuously monitored by a temperature recorder during the pasteurization process. When the monitoring indicates a deviation from the established critical limit, juice producers must segregate and hold the affected product for evaluation, destroy it, or divert it to non-food use, and adjust the pasteurizer (temperature or flow rate) to achieve the critical limit. The accuracy of the temperature-recording device needs to be checked daily against a mercury and glass thermometer. The mercury and glass thermometer should be annually calibrated.
Control measures for ensuring the safety of specialty fruit juices
- A supplier guarantee must exist to specify that the shipment includes only fruit harvested to exclude fallen fruit.
- The fruit must be rinsed and then brush washed with a sanitizer containing minimum 200 ppm of available chlorine for a contact time 30 seconds.
- A pasteurization process with a minimum temperature of 160°F (71.5°C) for 15–30 seconds is required to provide a 5-log reduction of the pertinent pathogen.The heating temperature and time are critical factors that must be monitored, controlled, and documented.
