Microbiology and Troubleshooting Spoilage. Cindy Austin 2018 FAFP Annual Meeting St. Petersburg, FL

Transcription

1 Microbiology and Troubleshooting Spoilage Cindy Austin 2018 FAFP Annual Meeting St. Petersburg, FL

2 Topics Covered Case studies Investigation procedures Questions

3 Sanitation Team Our job is to eliminate potential spoilage organisms and pathogens from food production equipment through SANITATION

4 Factors Affecting Growth/Survival of Microbes on Line Availability of food Product build-up on the line allows microbes to survive and grow more easily. Availability of water Wet lines are more susceptible to microbes than Dry lines Temperature Microbes all have a preferred temperature range that they like to grow at. Susceptibility to sanitizers Vegetative bacteria are the most susceptible and spores are the most resistant.

5 Growth of Microbes on a Line If minimal food and water are available microbes will grow Even if conditions are not proper for growth, many microbes will survive Why do we care if microbes grow or just survive?

6 Growth vs. Survival It does not take many microbes to spoil food, depending on the food and storage conditions. If there are a lot of microbes present (growing) on a line, your chance of spoilage increases dramatically. The more there are, the harder they are to eliminate. Pathogens are often found at low levels. Many can cause disease at low levels. Many microbes are able to survive on lines for long periods of time.

7 Onset of Spoilage in Foods Spoilage becomes apparent when the microbial counts are in excess of 1.0 x 10 7 cfu/g (10,000,000 cfu/g) High numbers = many byproducts of metabolism Proteases Breaks down proteins Carbohydrate complexes Slime Oxidation Produces off flavors and odors Gas Puffy packages and off odors Acids Sour flavors Visible colonies result when numbers exceed 1.0 x 10 8 cfu/g Yeast and mold colonies

8 Three Ways to Prevent Microbial Opportunities Kill microbes Keep them out in the first place Keep them from growing Sanitation is key in killing microbes and keeping them from contaminating our products.

9 Trouble Shooting Food Spoilage and Pathogens

10 Spoilage Case Studies Buttermilk Ranch Dressing The Problem: Very tight containers, lots of gas production creating pressure in bottles Dressing oozing out of bottles when opened; gas and offodor are detectable. Only in 8-oz. bottles NOT 16-oz. Microbe responsible was identified as Lactobacillus buchneri Where was this coming from??????

11 Spoilage Case Studies - Buttermilk Ranch Dressing The Investigation: Ingredients? Onion powder had microbes but not this one Equipment? Only sporadic problems Was is certain fillers? Yes, found a problem with the filler head for 8 oz. bottles

12 Spoilage Case Studies - Buttermilk Ranch Dressing What was the issue? Filler head was from obsolete equipment at a sister plant. Sister plant had converted a 16 oz. head to a 8 oz. head by adding a sleeve. Sleeve had water, and several different dressings inside. Excellent breeding ground for microbes and very difficult to detect. No one knew the sleeve existed as it was done at the sister plant so it was cleaned just like any other filler head. Fixing the spoilage issue required replacing the filler head OR removing it at every sanitation cycle to thoroughly clean and sanitize it.

13 Spoilage Case Studies - Braunschweiger The Problem: Packages getting very swollen and had an acidic taste. When tested, the ph had dropped from 6.1 to 5.4. Gas buildup caused the meat to ooze out of the package This was a cook-in-bag item so it should be free of bacteria Many different code dates affected

14 Spoilage Case Studies - Braunschweiger In-depth investigation of processing line and ingredients was performed. Equipment swabs taken Tested raw ingredients Tested finished product immediately after cook and after chill Tested rework

15 Spoilage Case Studies - Braunschweiger Results Detected >1,000 cfu/g lactic acid bacteria in finished product immediately after cook Detected >1,000 cfu/g lactic acid bacteria in finished product immediately after chill Detected >100,000 cfu/g lactic acid bacteria in rework RTE equipment swabs were acceptable Raw equipment swabs were >1,000,000 cfu/area swabbed Found meat in filler-vacuum space Bowl chopper/mixer also had high counts

16 Spoilage Case Studies - Braunschweiger What was going on? New vacuumizer on the line could not be effectively cleaned daily and bowl chopper was not routinely taken apart to clean at all. Meat that could not be cleaned from the line was a breeding ground for the spoilage bacteria. This bacteria was fed into many packages Rework usage limit of 30 days allowed for very high growth of LAB. The high levels of LAB could not be eliminated by the cook cycle.

17 Spoilage Case Studies - Braunschweiger Corrective Actions Vacuumizer was replaced Routine teardown of the bowl chopper was implemented. All rework in inventory was destroyed and usage age was limited to 14 days.

18 Spoilage Case Studies Sport Drink The Problem: Containers had visible mold growth, off odors and off flavors were also present. There was no juice in this particular sku Spoilage microorganism was identified as Alicyclobacillus Spore-forming bacteria commonly found in juices that can survive typical pasteurization techniques Product was heat-treated prior to packaging.

19 Spoilage Case Studies Sport Drink The investigation: A different product made on the same line contained sugar and some juice. This product was cooked to over 240 F The sport drink was only heated to 195 F The product that was cooked to over 240 F was almost always produced on the line before the sport drink. Investigational samples led to identifying a mixer shared by both products

20 Spoilage Case Studies Sport Drink Conclusions: Mostly likely the sugar and juice ingredients in the other product contained the Alicyclobaccilus organism that had spoiled the sport drink. The lack of sanitation between products caused a crosscontamination issue and the lower heat treatment of the sport drink did not eliminate this microorganism.

21 Spoilage Case Studies Packaged Sliced Meat The Problem: Consumer complaint reports showed an increase in spoilage complaints for packaged meat (turkey and ham) items in January. Plant micro and shelf life data showed no evidence of a problem at either of two plants that made the product. Monthly consumer complaint data continued to show an increasing spoilage trend. Complaint data showed that line #3 in Plant A was the culprit, however plant shelf life data still did not indicate a spoilage issue.

22 Spoilage Case Studies Packaged Sliced Meat The investigation and corrective actions: A large chain grocery store customer complains about puffy/swollen packages and pulls all product from shelves. Targeted micro sampling was increased on Line #3 and all samples were plated on agar and not petrifilm (normal procedure) Results showed significantly higher micro counts on several slicer areas. Deeps cleans and aggressive steam cleaning of all Plant A lines was initiated along with a test and hold procedure of all new product lots. Any affected product was destroyed.

23 Spoilage Case Studies Packaged Sliced Meat Lessons learned: Shelf life program was not adequate to predict emerging product spoilage issues. A laboratory change to petrifilm from agar resulted in failure to identify presence of spoilage bacteria. This particular organism was a high acid producer and the dye on the petrifilm was acid sensitive. Therefore, colonies appeared colorless on petrifilm Consumer contact data was not sufficient to allow for early diagnosis of emerging spoilage issue. Not enough information was collected form the consumer to narrow down where the problem was originating. Poor design of meat slicer caused cleanability issues, leading to high micro load in finished product.

24 Spoilage Case Studies Packaged Sliced Meat Consumer complaints for spoilage increased again in August! What did they miss? The plant micro data was showing an increase in counts on the line but no one was tracking it! Micro data indicated that the slicing lines needed to be deep cleaned and steamed more often than originally thought.

25 Smart TM Color Change Technologies In 1978 Manfred Thonhauser worked as a brewmaster for the Vienna Brewery Schwechat and performed hygiene checks in cleaned tanks and vessels This is where he first envisioned of a smart cleaning process that could verify the hygiene at the same time.

26 Smart TM Color Change Technologies In 1998 his son Philip Thonhauser took over the company his father created and developed the PST technology which has been developed for several applications beginning with draft beer line cleaning.

27 Smart TM Color Change Technologies In 1998 his son Philip Thonhauser took over the company his father created and developed the PST technology which has been developed for several applications beginning with draft beer line cleaning.

28 Smart TM Color Change Technologies

29 Smart TM Color Change Technologies

30 Smart TM Color Change Technologies

31 Smart TM Color Change Technologies

32 Smart TM Color Change Technologies

33 Smart TM Color Change Technologies

34 Smart TM Color Change Technologies Visually detectable at 1-2 µg/cm 2 glucose or 5 µg/cm 2 albumin SMART GEL is times more sensitive as protein-, glucose-, and ATP tests when testing on dairy, lemonade, ketchup and sausage products.

35 Investigation and Resolution of Spoilage Problems Begins by keeping an eye on your INDICATORS Clean equipment swabs In-process samples Environmental air samples Compressed air samples Observing If it does not look right, it is probably not right!

36 Microbiological Sampling Routine Basis After cleaning, you should sample for one or more of the following: Coliforms Yeast and mold TPC Lactic Acid Bacteria This measures your program s effectiveness Swabbing after cleaning but before sanitizing will tell you how effective your cleaning procedures are. Swabbing after both cleaning and sanitizing will tell you how effective your entire sanitation procedure is.

37 Microbiological Sampling Routine Basis Perform microbiological testing with swabs and record data. Compare to industry standards Compare to plant historical data Make sure to track and trend plant results to identify issues early. Corrective action for out-of-standard results is essential. Helps eliminate potential harborage niches for both spoilage microbes and pathogens.

38 Other Micro Samples Routine Basis Water TPC and Coliform Air Yeast and mold, perhaps TPC Raw ingredient testing Finished product testing

39 Other Micro Samples Routine Basis What about ATP sampling? Does not differentiate between bacterial/fungi ATP and that found in other organic material residues. Provides an overall picture of cleanliness Requires much work to extrapolate ATP results with expected microbe contamination. Should not replace actual clean equipment micro swabs. Provides great, immediate feedback and is a great learning tool.

40 Investigation of Spoilage Beyond Routine Micro Sampling If product is spoiling in the marketplace, then the investigation should intensify Observe spoilage characteristics of the product Isolate microbe May be able to match product isolate to equipment isolate Review sampling data from plant Review and observe sanitation procedures Increase sampling points to try and pinpoint the responsible equipment.

41 Investigation of Spoilage The Bottom Line Sanitation practices should be reviewed Microbiological sampling should be reviewed Results compared to baseline/historical data Microbiological sampling should increase Investigate line for hidden areas that are hard to reach Not always necessary to exactly identify the microbe responsible Not all spoilage issues will be confirmed and resolved for a nice story to tell.

42 The Challenge Find time to investigate out of spec results before it becomes a product issue Make it the highest priority for everyone on the team.

43 Summary Microbes are everywhere To keep foods from spoiling or making people sick you need to: Keep the microbes out, Keep them from growing Kill them Sanitation is critical in avoiding spoilage and illness associated with our foods.