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Identifying and Combating Hazards in Food Processing

Today’s consumers are more concerned about food quality and safety than ever before.  Foodborne illness is a major health concern facing consumers globally.  In the United States alone, foodborne illnesses cause an estimated 76 million cases each year.   As a result, hospitalization and needless deaths have occurred.  In addition, the food industry has suffered billions of dollars in economic loss due to foodborne illness.

Product recalls and outbreaks of foodborne illness or injuries occur when biological, chemical or physical hazards are allowed into the finished product by failures at the processing or packaging level.  According to FDA data (2004), the most common contributing reasons for these failures were mishandling, addition of incorrect ingredients; changes in the equipment, formulation process, recipe or preparation practice; packaging problems; lack of attention to detail; and malicious contamination or product tampering. 

FDA’s data indicates that in 2004, 58 percent of recalls resulted from failures to follow processing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and ineffective employee training.   The costs of these incidents are human pain and suffering, debilitation and loss of life, law suits, and injury to company reputation, brand image, market share, and shareholder value. 

The careful identification and evaluation of hazards allow us to focus most effectively on the control of those hazards.

Biological Hazards

Biological hazards include bacteria, viruses and parasites.  These hazards are further classified as spoilers, infective pathogens, toxin producers and sporeformers.  Spoilers include molds, which may produce mycotoxins; yeast; lactic acid bacteria; coliforms, sporeformers and pseudomonads.  They are perceived by consumers to be food safety issues and can cause economic loss. 

However, pathogens pose the greatest food safety hazards.  Infective pathogens include Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes, E. Coli 0157:H7, protozoa (such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium) and viruses. Infective pathogens invade the host and multiply in the body causing infection. These pathogens are generally easily destroyed by heat.  Toxin producers, which require growth in the food for toxin formation, include Clostridium botulinum, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus aureus. Prevention of growth is an effective strategy for control of these organisms.

Spore formers are more heat resistant than other pathogens and can survive in a dormant state for long periods of time under less than ideal conditions.  Spore formers include Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum and Clostridium perfringens.

Control strategies for this category of hazards include effective thermal processing, exclusion from the product by use of appropriate process controls, and the use of hurdle strategies in product design to prevent their growth.

Chemical Hazards

Chemical hazards in food processing can include chemicals which are intentionally added to foods, incidental or unintentionally added chemicals, as well as naturally occurring toxins.  Intentionally added chemicals can be preservatives, such as sulfiting agents, nutritional additives, such as niacin and color additives.  Unintentionally added chemical hazards can include drug residues, unapproved food and color additives and even cleaning compounds and sanitizers commonly used in the processing facility. Naturally occurring chemical hazards include mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins in nut products; shellfish and seafood toxins; and food allergens.  Control strategies for chemical hazards include effective, facility-specific Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP’s), food security and other prerequisite programs; proper labeling and understanding of all components of ingredients and rigorous control of non-ingredient chemicals.

Physical Hazards

Physical hazards in food processing can include such objects as metal fragments, nuts and bolts, glass and plastic, wood splinters, nut shells and fruit pits, and bone fragments.  Some common control strategies for this category include physical exclusion of the hazard; effective detection and elimination systems; proper equipment design and selection; effective facility maintenance, and visual inspection.

Once hazards have been identified, an effective program can be designed to manage and reduce these risks.  Tools of the overall program include carefully though-out HACCP, Sanitation, Maintenance, and cGMP programs; effective microbiological testing and chemical verification testing; systematic validation of processes both annually and when changes occur; regular employee training; and product design and packaging strategies that carefully take into account both the potential hazards that have been identified and the consequences of potential abuse of the product. Auditing processes must be designed to identify weaknesses in all of these areas.

Verification measurements at Critical Control Points (CCP’s) are critical, and this data must be used to implement proper control of the process.  Furthermore, regular audits of this data should occur in order to seek continual improvement.  To overlook potential hazards, or fail to perform verification measurements where needed can quickly lead to disaster.

Commercial testing laboratories are a valued resource to provide direction and input to understand, implement, and use these tools.  This assistance can come in the form of food microbiological analyses and food chemistry analyses, validation testing, shelf-life studies, audits, consulting services from HACCP-trained professionals, and customized on-site training pertinent to your sector of the food industry that provides maximum benefit to your employees and facility.

Summary

To reduce risk of major food incidents, which result in human illness and major economic loss, it is imperative to identify and understand the potential hazards. Comprehensive and effective strategies and control measures must then be developed to eliminate or reduce the hazards. A process that is well-designed, well-managed and subject to regular review for effectiveness is at the lowest risk for critical failures. Ultimately, an effective quality control system is the most cost effective way to operate for the producer, and results in the greatest possible satisfaction for the consumers who benefit from the quality of the product.

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For more information, contact:
Dr. Kim Baughman, Director of Development
Microbac Laboratories, Inc.
kbaughman@microbac.com

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