HAZARD ANALYSIS AND CCP DETERMINATION IN THE SMOKED CHICKEN LEG PRODUCTION PROCESS

Hazard analysis, the first principle within the HACCP system has been identified as one of the most demanding tasks for a HACCP team. The second principle of HACCP is determination of Critical Control Points, at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or to reduce it to an acceptable level. In this study hazard analysis and CCP determination for the smoked chicken leg production was made. Using UGent method 5 production processes/steps were determined as CCPs

Tools to support the self assessment of the performance of Food Safety Management Systems

Changes in food supply chains, health and demographic situations, lifestyle and social situations, environmental conditions, and increased legislative requirements have led to significant efforts in the development of quality and safety management systems in agribusiness and food industry worldwide (Ropkins and Beck, 2000; Efstratiadis, Karirti, and Arvanitoyannis, 2000; Jacxsens, et al, 2009a, Luning and Marcelis, 2009a). Nowadays, companies have implemented various quality assurance (QA) guidelines and standards, such as GMP and HACCP guidelines (like General Principles of food hygiene (Codex Alimentarius 2003), GFSI guidance document (GFSI (2007), and quality assurance standards (like ISO 9001:2008 (2008), ISO22000:2005 (2005), BRC (2008), and IFS (2007) into their company own food safety management system. The performance of such systems in practice is, however, still variable. Moreover, the continuous pressure on food safety management system (FSMS) performance and the dynamic environment wherein the systems operate (such as emerging pathogens, changing consumer demands, developments in preservation techniques) require that they can be systematically analysed to determine opportunities for improvement (Wallace, et al, 2005; Manning et al, 2006; Van der Spiegel et al, 2006; Cornier et al, 2007; Luning et al, 2009a). Within the European project entitled ‘PathogenCombat- EU FOOD-CT-2005-007081’ various tools have been developed to support food companies and establishments in systematically analysing and judging their food safety management system and its microbiological performance as basis for strategic choices on interventions to improve the FSMS performance. This chapter describes briefly principles of the major tools that have been developed and some others, which are still under still under construction

Guidance on date marking and related food information: part 2 (food information)

A risk-based approach was used to develop guidance to be followed by food business operators (FBOs) when deciding on food information relating to storage conditions and/or time limits for consumption after opening a food package and thawing of frozen foods. After opening the package, contamination may occur, introducing new pathogens into the food and the intrinsic (e.g. pH and aw), extrinsic (e.g. temperature and gas atmosphere) and implicit (e.g. interactions with competing background microbiota) factors may change, affecting microbiological food safety. Setting a time limit for consumption after opening the package (secondary shelf-life) is complex in view of the many influencing factors and information gaps. A decision tree (DT) was developed to assist FBOs in deciding whether the time limit for consumption after opening, due to safety reasons, is potentially shorter than the initial ‘best before’ or ‘use by’ date of the product in its unopened package. For products where opening the package leads to a change of the type of pathogenic microorganisms present in the food and/or factors increasing their growth compared to the unopened product, a shorter time limit for consumption after opening would be appropriate. Freezing prevents the growth of pathogens, however, most pathogenic microorganisms may survive frozen storage, recover during thawing and then grow and/or produce toxins in the food, if conditions are favourable. Moreover, additional contamination may occur from hands, contact surfaces or contamination from other foods and utensils. Good practices for thawing should, from a food safety point of view, minimise growth of and contamination by pathogens between the food being thawed and other foods and/or contact surfaces, especially when removing the food from the package during thawing. Best practices for thawing foods are presented to support FBOs

Modeling and optimization of sensory changes and shelf-life in vacuum-packaged cooked ham treated by E-beam irradiation

[EN] The E-beam irradiation of vacuum-packaged RTE cooked ham was carried out to establish the dose required to achieve the food safety objective (FSO) and to minimize changes in selected sensory attributes. Cooked ham was irradiated with doses ranging 1-4 kGy. After the treatment, the microbial inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes, the shelf-life of the product and some sensory attributes (appearance, odor, and flavor) were determined. The inactivation of L monocytogenes was satisfactorily described by a first-order kinetics equation (R2=0.99). The influence of the irradiation dose on appearance, odor, and flavor was modeled through Gompertz (R2=0.99, for appearance) and Activation/Inactivation (R2=0.99, for odor and flavor) equations. A model was also developed to determine the shelf-life of irradiated cooked ham depending on the irradiation dose (R2 > 0.91). The dose that maximized the scores of the sensory attributes was 0.96 kGy resulting in an acceptable sensory quality for 80 days. It is possible to apply up to 2 kGy to ensure microbial safety, while provoking no significant changes in the above mentioned sensory attributes. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Project CSD2007-00016 (CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Benedito Fort, JJ.; Cambero, MI.; Ortuño Cases, C.; Cabeza, MC.; Ordoñez, JA.; De La Hoz, L. (2011). Modeling and optimization of sensory changes and shelf-life in vacuum-packaged cooked ham treated by E-beam irradiation. Radiation Physics and Chemistry. 80(3):505-513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2010.11.001S50551380

Evaluation of a simplified approach in food safety management systems in the retail sector: A case study of butcheries in Flanders, Belgium and Lancashire, UK

The EFSA BIOHAZ panel published a scientific opinion proposing a new approach in food safety management, adapted to the needs of small retail businesses such as grocery, butcher, bakery, fishmonger and ice cream shops. The opinion is aiming at a more hands-on development and maintenance of their food safety management system, based on prerequisite programs and hazard analysis critical control point-principles. In this paper, the added value of the EFSA opinion is evaluated by comparing requirements with existing legislation and applied guidelines relevant for butchers, and to assess perceptions about introduced changes by this opinion for small independent butcheries in Flanders, Belgium and in North-West England, UK as a case study. Results show that the conditions for flexibilities, as stated in the EFSA opinion, could lead to difficulties in interpretation among Member States. Also, the hazard analysis approach applied in the two main UK guides to good practice appeared to be similar to the simplified approach proposed by EFSA. For Belgium, the main difference is that in the Belgian guide to good practice hazards are ranked and critical control points are identified for the preparation and selling of fresh meat, minced meat and meat preparations. The specification of prerequisite programs and related activities in the EFSA opinion can be an important step towards harmonization among EU Member States. Assessing the perceptions of ten UK and ten Belgian butchers revealed that the hazard analysis approach and the thirteen prerequisite requirements proposed by EFSA, are generally positively experienced by the butchers. However, the introduction of the proposal ‘Monthly microbiological tests’ to verify cleaning and disinfection activities is rejected by all the Belgian butchers and by the majority of the UK butchers. This proposal will not ease their job and the necessity of these tests should be reconsidere