Sanitation helps extend shelf life

Dairy Foods, March, 2001 by Dennis Van Milligen

The shift towards ultra-high-temperature/ex tended shelf life milk products with a 60-day shelf life is requiring dairy companies to put greater emphasis on sanitation

"The cleaner your equipment is, the longer shelf life it's going to be," observes Doug Cart, Director of Quality Assurance for Dean Foods. More and more companies are processing extended shelf life (ESL) and ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk products, particularly with 60-day or more shelf lives. Plants have added the obvious equipment to accomplish these goals (PET and gabletop lines). But it's the not-so-obvious that could ultimately determine the success or failure of successfully producing ESL/UHT products.

Cleaning and sanitation are fundamental to the success of any plant. However, dairy companies are placing even greater emphasis on sanitation throughout the entire process, including receiving, processing and packaging. Whether it's choosing sanitizers, equipment, establishing sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOPs), or adhering to the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), ESL/UHT plants are taking necessary measures to ensure the safety and stability of their product.

"The Bible of the dairy industry"

SSOPs are designed by individual plants, and therefore can vary from one another. The PMO, on the other hand, was handed down from the FDA and must be adhered to by all fluid milk plants. "The PMO is kind of the bible of the dairy food industry," Cart said. "We're required to wash and sanitize each day and have a set procedure for doing that."

The ordinance covers standards for raw milk that is considered Grade A and thus is regulated by the FDA and state. While many agree the PMO is a valuable reference, it does present a challenge to dairy processors, particularly those processing ESL/UHT products. The PMO states that equipment must be cleaned every production day, but leaves open to interpretation just what a production day is.

It is not uncommon for ESL plants to run continually for more than 24 hours. Ice cream manufacturers, for example, may run 48 to 60 hours straight before production stops and cleaning be gins. In Europe and Canada, dairy plants may have production runs that last 2-3 days, but due to FDA and the PMO regulations, U.S. dairy plants may not have that same luxury.

Aside from the production run debate, however, many seem in favor of the ordinance. "The PMO contains regulations that address UHT or ultra pasteurized products, time temperature relationships and the way systems have to be set up to meet regulatory requirements - and they're all based on food safety," Cart added.

Most plants in the dairy industry have standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place that take employees step-by-step through daily activities they need to perform in order for the plant to be successful. But plants are learning that SOPs aren't enough. Hence the implementation of SSOPs is no longer considered an option, but a necessity. "Companies that have SSOPs in place seem to be experiencing a lot fewer problems with bacteria and contamination than those that don't," observed Bob Price, project manager for Seiberling Associates (SAI) Inc. "Those that don't have SSOPs in place need to seriously consider implementing something like that to improve their quality." Seiberling Associates consults with dairy and food companies on the de sign of sanitary process/CIP systems and their associated control systems.

Stephanie Olmsted, Quality Director at Seattle-based West Farm Foods, is responsible for overseeing sanitation and quality at West Farm Foods' 11 dairy plants, two of which are ultra-pasteurized plants. An important part of West Farms' success is the high emphasis it places on SSOPs. "SSOPs are both from the daily cleaning regime as far as explaining to employees the expectations that go into how to tear the filler down, how to do the cleaning, and what chemicals to use," Olmsted said.

At West Farm Foods, operators have a sign off sheet that they turn in at the end of each cleaning, then discuss with a supervisor what areas need additional attention.

Dave Garrison, plant manager at Dean Foods' Murray, Ky., plant, also has daily meetings with operators. During the final ten minutes of every shift, Garrison and his operators will discuss safety, quality and efficiency and any problems the operator had during the day, then documents the information. This meeting ultimately determines if the SSOPs need to be updated or not. "We want our employees to take ownership of what they do," said Garrison. "They help us tweak our SSOPs. We don't go a week without making a change in some area."

What about the ESL plants that don't have any sanitation standards in place and have no idea where to start? Help is available from some new sources. An ESL task force, headed up by Dr. Charles Sizer, Director of the National Center for Food Safety Technology (NCFST), Summit, Ill., is being assembled for one reason - to establish simple guidelines for good manufacturing practices (GMPs) at ESL plants. "The are no GMPs for ESL prod ucts, and we thought it would be a good idea to write down what people considered to be GMPs and then use that as a basis to go beyond that," said Sizer.