Actual situation in the area of implementing quality assurance systems GMP,GHP and HACCP in Polish food production and processing plants

The survey was carried out in 16 provinces of Poland. Its objective was to collect information on the actual situation in the area of implementing Good Manufacture Practice (GMP), Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) in food production and processing plants. The survey demonstrated that 91% of the surveyed plants are familiar with GHP rules and 95% with HACCP. 34% of the plants have already implemented the system, 35% are in the process of implementing it, 28% are thinking of its adoption and 3% do not intend to implement the system as long as possible. The advancement of the surveyed plants in GMP, GHP and HACCP implementation can be regarded as satisfactory.     

Microbiological and biochemical changes during processing of the traditional chinese food douzhi

The microbiological and biochemical changes during douzhi processing were studied. The sedimentation process was shown to follow a lactic fermentation course. The main fermenting bacteria were identified to be Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc citreum; the former played the main role in producing acids, and the latter ensured a better flavor of douzhi. Yeasts thrived during the late part of fermentation were believe to account for the decrease in acidity. Tracing the change of chemical compounds suggested that active metabolic activity was induced when beans were steeped in water, in which significant reduction in crude protein and sugars were observed, but levels of soluble proteins, free amino acids increased. Fermentation by lactic acid bacteria caused a rapid reduction of soluble proteins, soluble sugars and reducing sugars, but significant accumulation of free amino acids and slight changes in crude protein. Mung bean endogenous protease and amylase activity dropped significantly during fermentation.     

Costs and investments of implementing and maintaining HACCP in a pasteurized milk plant

Results of an economic study associated with the implementation and maintenance of HACCP in a pasteurized milk plant are presented. The GMP/SSOP pre-requisites were evaluated in the plant. Two HACCP plans were proposed: a first plan was developed under the actual operating conditions, without previous compliance of GMP/SSOP pre-requisites, and a second plan was developed considering compliance of GMP/SSOP. The cost estimation for implementation and maintenance of HACCP, with or without previous adoption of the pre-requisite programs, was performed and a comparative analysis of the estimated values was carried out. The results suggest that a previous compliance of GMP/SSOP pre-requisites is essential for developing an effective HACCP plan with a small number of critical control points, leading to lower costs and investments for implementation and maintenance of HACCP.     

Implementation of HACCP and prerequisite programs in food businesses in Turkey

The objectives of this study was to determine food safety practices and procedures related to the hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) programme and prerequisite programme implementation in food businesses. One hundred and nine food businesses in Turkey were assessed for HACCP-prerequisite programmes and food safety practices. Only eight food businesses had implemented the HACCP system in food businesses. Directors and employees often have insufficient knowledge regarding the basics of food hygiene. Results indicated that proper food safety practices and prerequisite food safety programmes for HACCP were often not being followed in many food businesses. Time and temperature errors and inadequate handwashing practices were wide in the most food businesses. Emphasis on implementing prerequisite programmes in preparation for HACCP is needed in food businesses. The problems of implementing HACCP in food businesses have been namely a low level of food hygiene management training, high staff turnover rate, lack of motivation, lack of financial resources, inadequate equipment and physical conditions of the facility and failure of government.     

Implementation and effectiveness of the HACCP and pre-requisites in food establishments

The aim of this paper was to identify the most important weaknesses in the implementation and effectiveness of the pre-requisites and HACCP found in food establishments. To cover these objectives, official control audits of the manuals and their implementation in 1350 small and 66 medium size organizations: restaurants, hotels and cafeterias in one area of the Valencian region (Spain) were carried out from 2007 to 2010. The microbiological quality of 1054 ready-to-consume dishes was also evaluated as an indicator of the effectiveness of the control at Critical Control Points. The results showed that the main deficiencies in the implementation of the pre-requisites and HACCP were found in conditions and structural design followed by hygiene & cleaning. Moreover, the analysis of Listeria monocytogenes in dishes at the time of consumption shows that 99.6% were of good microbiological quality. This indicates that in relation to this hazard, the implementation of safety management systems in the majority of the food establishments was effective. These results demonstrate the crucial role played by official control to ensure the welfare of consumers and how it facilitates continuous improvement in the safety management of these businesses.     

HACCP with multivariate process monitoring and fault diagnosis techniques: application to a food pasteurization process

Multivariate statistical process monitoring (SPM), and fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) methods are developed to monitor the critical control points (CCPs) in a continuous food pasteurization process. Multivariate SPM techniques effectively use information from all process variables to detect abnormal process behavior. Fault diagnosis techniques isolate the source cause of the deviation in process variable(s). The methods developed are illustrated by implementing them to monitor the critical control points and diagnose causes of abnormal operation of a high temperature short time (HTST) pasteurization pilot plant. The detection power of multivariate SPM and FDD techniques over univariate SPM techniques is shown and their integrated use to ensure the product safety and quality in food processes is demonstrated.     

Safety of a street vended traditional maize beverage,ice-kenkey,in Ghana

Ice-kenkey is a chilled cereal beverage sold as street food in some open markets in Ghana. It is produced by mashing and sweetening kenkey, a stiff dumpling produced from fermented maize meal. The safety of street vended ice-kenkey was assessed by microbiological, elemental and myco-toxicological analysis of ice-kenkey and intermediary products obtained from 16 producers in four open markets in the Accra and Tema metropolis. A tenfold increase in counts of aerobic mesophiles, and yeast and moulds were recorded during the production of ice-kenkey. Coliform bacteria, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus which were not detected in the starting materials were found partway through production or in the final product. The mean microbial counts in the packaged ice-kenkey were 10⁶–10⁷ CFU/g for aerobic mesophiles, 10⁴–10⁵ CFU/g for yeast and moulds, 10–1000 CFU/g for total coliforms and 10–100 CFU/g for S. aureus. E. coli counts of 10 CFU/g were recorded in samples from three out of the four markets. The microbial load could be eliminated by pasteurizing ice-kenkey at 80 °C for 15 min. The mean concentration in mg/kg of Fe was between 15.97 and 29.48, Cu, 0.57 to 1.41, Mn, 0 to 2.55, Pb 0 to 1.25 and Zn 0.47 to 6.17. Total aflatoxins content in samples ranged from 7.04 to 22.17 μg/kg and included a range of 7.01–20.54 for aflatoxin B₁, 0.51 to 1.63 for aflatoxin B₂ and 0–0.47 μg/kg for aflatoxin G_I. Aflatoxin G₂ was not detected in any of the samples. A simplified training module based GMP, GHP and a HACCP plan was developed and used to train ice-kenkey producers in Accra in collaboration with municipal authorities.     

Difficulties and barriers for the implementing of HACCP and food safety systems in food businesses in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to determine barriers for HACCP and food safety programs in food businesses in Turkey. A lack of understanding of HACCP was identified as one of the main barriers to its implementation 63.5% reported that they did not really know what HACCP was while 23.5% reported that it was too complicated. Only 33.0% of managers said they had a food safety management system. About 31% of the employees in food businesses had received basic food hygiene training. The majority of managers (91.3%) identified improved customer confidence as a benefit of implementing a food safety management system. Lack of prerequisite programs (92.2%) was the key barrier identified for all food businesses. While lack of knowledge about HACCP (83.5%), lack of time (88.7%), staff turnover (80.9%), lack of employee motivation (83.5%), complicated terminology (87.0%) and lack of personnel training (91.3) was the other most common barriers in food businesses. As a conclusion, lack of knowledge about HACCP and other food safety programs were identified as the main barriers for food safety in food businesses. Lack of prerequisite programs and inadequate physical condition of the facility were also identified as other barriers. Training programs, both basic food safety and HACCP to support implementation of prerequisite programs and HACCP in food businesses were suggested.     

新型油田产量递减模型的建立与应用

迄今为止,对于递减阶段的油田产量预测来说,国内外主要使用的是经典的Arps递减模型,尤其是Arps指数递减模型。但是,Arps递减模型对俄罗斯萨马特洛尔和罗马什金油田并不适用,这两个油田的产量和生产时间数据在半对数坐标系上并不是直线关系,而是曲线关系。基于对概率统计中正态分布的研究,建立了新型的油田产量递减模型。通过萨马特洛尔和罗马什金油田的实际应用,表明本文提出的新型递减模型是正确的,而且要比Arps递减模型更具有代表性。     

Implementation of HACCP to large scale production line of Greek ouzo and brandy: a case study

The advanced technology of high speed operations and the large scale of incoming materials and components used for food and drink production often cause hazards for the product safety. These hazards can hardly be controlled by the use of classical quality control methods. The most secure and cost-effective method for controlling the possible product contamination or cross contamination, due to physical or chemical hazard during the production is the implementation of the Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP system), particularly, if the latter is a part of a total quality system (TQS). The following case study on the application of HACCP to ouzo and brandy production demonstrates how the hazards at the 6 Critical Control Points (CCPs) of the process are easily and effectively controlled through the implementation of HACCP.     

The relationship among food safety knowledge,attitudes and self-reported HACCP practices in restaurant employees

This study investigates relationships among food safety knowledge, attitudes and hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) practices in restaurant employees in Taiwan. The authors administered a baseline questionnaire to 542 restaurant employees to assess their food safety knowledge, attitude and HACCP practices. A total of 421 valid questionnaires were returned and used in analysis. Mean scores for each survey item were calculated and used in a structural equation model (SEM) designed to assess interrelationships between the three. Participants scored an average 84.7% correct in food safety knowledge, with highest and lowest correct scores in, respectively, the food poisoning and good hygienic practices (GHP) constructs. The highest score in the attitude section was “concern for food safety” followed by “self-improvement.” With the exception of the food poisoning construct, this study found correlations among knowledge, attitude, and HACCP practices, with attitude mediating the relationship between knowledge and HACCP practices. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

天然气处理厂供热系统优化改造及效果评价

米脂天然气处理厂于2006年10月建成倒班点换热机组装置,2007年1月投运,至今已近五年。目前,装置运行基本正常,但运行期间存在诸多弊端,诸如蒸汽锅炉长期处于低负荷运行,洗浴水温不恒定,生活用水颜色不定期呈现红色、暗红色等问题,给正常生产、生活带来极大的影响,也给装置长周期运行造成一定压力。为解决上述存在的问题,米脂天然气处理厂提出对现有倒班点换热机组进行优化改造,新配置一台热水锅炉,专供洗浴。在厂区锅炉房重新安置一台汽水板式换热器专供倒班点采暖用,专供洗浴。供热系统优化改造后节能经济效益显著,同时达到提高装置运行的安全系数及员工生活质量的多重目的。     

Recent advances in process control and their potential applications to food processing

Recent advances in the theory and practice of process control in the context of applications in the food industry are reviewed. In particular, an overview is given of developments in adaptive control, predictive control, neural networks applications and other new relevant developments. The problems associated wth control of food processing are also addressed.     

Prevalence of Listeria spp. at a poultry processing plant in Brazil and a phage test for rapid confirmation of suspect colonies

Sites and occurrence of Listeria contamination in an industrial poultry processing plant were investigated by sampling carcasses at varying stages of processing and testing the hands and gloves of food handlers as well as the chilling water used in the process. In the course of nine visits to a local processing plant we collected a total of 121 samples: 66 from carcasses, 37 from workers' hands and gloves and 18 from the water used for chilling. Except for the water samples Listeria was isolated at all sampling sites. The species most often isolated was Listeria innocua, which accounted for 28 of the 31 (90.3%) isolates. The frequency of Listeria in the chicken carcasses was similar at bleeding, defeathering and end of evisceration stages (33.3%), reduced during scalding (16.7%), and rose immediately after initial evisceration stage (50%) to peak after packaging (76.2%). The carcasses were contaminated by L. monocytogenes serotypes 1b and 1c only during packaging. The prevalence of Listeria spp. on workers' hands and gloves was 46% mostly with L. innocua (40.5%) followed by L. monocytogenes 1b (11.8%). Chilling water presented more than 100 ppm of chlorine, which could explain why the samples were negative to Listeria. As the contamination by Listeria in the carcasses progressively rose both in number, species and strains during processing it seems reasonable to conclude that those carcasses become contaminated at the processing level. Improvement and innovation measures to control bacteria in general at the processing plant level are necessary to effectively reduce final product contamination by L. monocytogenes. In the course of this work we introduced a bacteriophage susceptibility test to confirm suspected Listeria colonies which was able to reduce the time of analysis to a minimum of 30 h depending on the isolation technique employed.     

Barriers and benefits to the adoption of a third party certified food safety management system in the food processing sector in Shanghai,China

Despite the recent passing of legislation by the National People's Congress of China in 2009, many food businesses in China have yet to implement a third party certified food safety management system (FSMS). While the extent literature identifies a number of internal and external barriers and benefits, the extent to which these impact on the business is thought to be dependent upon how much progress the firm has made on its journey towards quality assurance and the environment within which the firm operates. To test this proposition, the barriers and the benefits accrued from the implementation of a third party certified FSMS were explored by segregating the participating firms into three distinct groups; (i) those that have yet to implement a third party certified FSMS; (ii) those that were in the process of adopting a third party certified FSMS; and (iii) those that were already operating under a third party certified FSMS. Contrary to expectations, in what is a highly competitive market, those firms which were operating under a third party certified FSMS were more likely to question the benefits they had derived than those firms that were either in the process of adoption or had chosen not to adopt a third party certified FSMS. Irrespective of the stage of adoption, the major constraint to the implementation of a third party certified FSMS was the need for the organisation to focus on more immediate issues and the lack of any strategic long-term planning.     

The impact of high pressure thermal sterilization on the microbiological stability and formation of food processing contaminants in selected fish systems and baby food puree at pilot scale

To this day there is no implementation of the high pressure thermal sterilization (HPTS) in the food industry. HPTS could result in better food quality, lower thermal load applied to the product and less unwanted food processing contaminants (FPCs) such as furan.Based on findings for selected foods at lab-scale extrapolated temperature-time combinations for a 12 log₁₀ inactivation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens were chosen for a scale-up with a 55 L vessel (HPHT system Hiperbaric). Temperature-time-combinations at 600 MPa were between 100 and 115 °C and 0.45–28min. The scale-up resulted in a reduction of furan, depending on the food system, between 41 and 98% to retorting. Results at pilot scale were similar to lab-scale experiments. The performed storage trials (standardized method NF V 08-408) showed that only for the baby food puree two selected treatment conditions (107.5 °C, 9.8 min and 115 °C, 0.45 min at 600 MPa) resulted in an unstable product. Overall the results of the scale-up process support the idea that the HPTS could be feasible for the implementation in the food industry.     

饲用复合酶对奶牛产奶量影响的研究

酶制剂对动物的生理、消化、生产等方面能产生巨大的影响,但酶制剂的来源,相容程度,品质动物饲料,加量等因素的不同,往往使产生的效果与人们的预期相差甚远,为此,本文利用白银赛诺生物科技有限公司的103号饲用符合酶制剂做了不同的加量试验,试验的结果是在奶牛精料中添加0.2%～0.3%的赛诺奶牛专用复合酶能达到最佳提高产奶量的效果。