 |
This contract service can be tailored to suit all types of sterilisation or pasteurisation heat treatments. The technique allows an assessment of the lethal effect of a process on microorganisms, and thus provides excellent validation of a given process.
Applicable to:
- Any process where standard temperature measurement techniques are difficult or not possible
- Changing product environment during heating e.g. rehydration
- Unusual product matrix e.g. high fat, high starch
- Continuous flow processes
- In pack pasteurisation/sterilisation
- Reheat or cooking instructions
- Equipment and packaging sterilisation processes in aseptic systems
Methods used:
- Encapsulated spores (sphere technique)
- Batch inoculation
- Alginate particle technique
- Spore strip method
Approaches:
- Introduce a non-pathogenic marker organism into the product at a high starting level
- Process according to required parameters and then take samples of batch inoculated product or recover alginate particles
- Level of surviving marker organism determine
- D value of marker organism and pathogen of concern determine in product to aid data interpretation
Benefits:
- Can be used as part of process development or optimisation
- Provides confidence in the thermal process with respect to pathogen kill and therefore demonstrates product safety
|
