Food Manufacturing Resources
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Produce buyers are increasingly requiring their suppliers to establish environmental monitoring programs in their packinghouses to verify the sanitary conditions of handling facilities and equipment. The first step of a successful monitoring program requires accurate zone designation, whereby surfaces are identified according to their proximity to and likelihood of contaminating a food product. This first publication in the “Packinghouse Environmental Monitoring Programs” series guides food safety managers as they determine how to prioritize food-contact and non-contact surfaces as they develop their monitoring programs.
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As a part of a packinghouse environmental monitoring program, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), protein, and allergen swabbing is used to ensure that packinghouse equipment and surfaces have been properly cleaned and prepared for sanitation. ATP, protein, and allergen swabbing is frequently incorporated to complement microbial swabbing practices or as an independent program. These swab types indicate the presence of soils and residues on equipment, determining the effectiveness of the cleaning portion of a sanitation program. Sample results can be read in minutes, unlike microbial swabs, which take days. For this reason, ATP, protein, and allergen swabs are used immediately after cleaning to rapidly confirm that cleaning procedures were thorough. Operations then sanitize and collect microbial swabs to verify the effectiveness of the sanitation process.
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Pomegranate is an emerging crop that has been experiencing a significant expansion in Georgia. Pomegranates are excellent sources of sugars, soluble fibers, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, including polyphenols with strong antioxidant activity. Because of their nutritional content, pomegranates are considered functional foods (foods that provide health benefits in addition to basic nutrition). This resource describes the main phytochemicals present in pomegranate fruits and provides an overview of the potential value-added products that may be developed from Georgia-grown pomegranates.
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B 1478
Roasted Peanut Flavor
Flavor is the major determinant for consumers’ appreciation of roasted peanuts. Flavor development involves two important reactions: Maillard reaction and lipid oxidation. Maillard reaction mainly occurs during roasting to generate a pleasant “roasted” flavor. But during storage, lipid oxidation produces off-flavors and reduces roasted flavor, which is known as “flavor fade.” In order to retard lipid oxidation, high-oleic cultivars were developed. We have observed that compared to normal-oleic GA 06G, high-oleic GA 13M had higher consumer acceptability with a better capability to mitigate lipid oxidation, demonstrating that using a high-oleic trait is a potential solution to the problem of flavor fade.
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This bulletin provides the scientific basis and food-safety framework for developing a food safety plan for acid/acidified foods. This includes practical food-safety examples for the acidified foods, including foundational support of a recordkeeping system and forms. Learning how to develop a process-flow diagram, developing recordkeeping forms, and applying food-safety principles during acid/acidified-food production will provide a processor with a better understanding of how a systematic approach to food-safety principles should be applied during the production, processing, packaging, storage, and distribution of acid/acidified foods. This publication contains information on how to develop a plan, including FDA requirements for developing a food safety plan, and sample recordkeeping forms to guide an acid/acidified food processor to safely process, package, and distribute acidified foods in commerce.
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The quality of an egg involves both the exterior and interior qualities of the egg. Egg quality includes the cleanliness of the shell, soundness of the shell, thickness of the albumen, and color of the yolk. Good egg quality is critical to maintaining the hatching potential of eggs, as improper handling or storage of eggs will reduce the ability of the eggs to hatch and produce good quality chicks. For table eggs, improper handling and storage of eggs will reduce the grade of the eggs and could pose a potential health hazard.
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Many third-party audits, buyers, and standard operating procedures for produce packinghouses or other food facilities require regular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or protein swabs to verify the effectiveness of the cleaning and sanitation protocols. This video demonstrates how to collect ATP and protein swabs, how to interpret swab results, and provides advice to help determine an acceptable baseline when implementing a new swabbing program.
This video is hosted on the UGA Extension YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/embed/MhwZa6Cv9sU
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines a recall as actions taken by a firm to remove a product from the market. A well-designed recall plan will help to effectively locate the recalled product, remove it from the market, and locate the source of error in the product. Recalls can be conducted on a firm’s own initiative, by FDA request, or by FDA order under statutory authority. If a situation requiring a recall does present itself, it is in the company’s best interest to recall a product before an outbreak occurs.
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Companies and individuals who process and sell food must provide a Nutrition Facts label on their food products. The FDA website provides comprehensive detail on federal regulations, but the wealth of regulatory information appears complex and overwhelming to owners of small and very small companies.
This resource provides a simplified guide to understanding Nutrition Facts label components, formatting, regulatory exemptions to labeling requirements, and answers to general questions on creating a complete and accurate label.
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