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Chapter 19 Fruit and Vegetable Processing Plant Sanitation
An effective sanitation program for fruit
and vegetable processing facilities requires
the same basic components needed in other
food operations: appropriate cleaning com-
pounds and sanitizers, effective cleaning pro-
cedures, and effective administration of the
sanitation program. The ultimate goal is to
provide a finished product that is sanitary
and wholesome.
Contamination sources..........................................................................
Effective preservation of fruits and vegeta-
bles depends on the prevention of contami-
nation by spoilage-causing and pathogenic
microorganisms during production, process-
ing, storage, and distribution. It is important
to consider raw materials as a potential
source for food spoilage microorganisms and
as a contributor to bacterial pools within a
processing plant.
Federal laws mandate that processed foods
shipped interstate be free of pathogenic
microorganisms. The normal sterilization
process for commercially canned foods is suf-
ficient to destroy pathogenic bacteria that
may exist in the container at the time of ster-
ilization. Also, washing and peeling opera-
tions contribute to the physical removal of
organisms. Therefore, if the canning and
freezing processes are properly conducted,
the finished product should be wholesome.
Chapter 5 provides more information on the
contamination of raw materials.Raw Materials
Raw materials are exposed to many
unclean sources and can provide additional
contamination in the receiving, raw material
storage, and processing areas. They may pos-
sess biological hazards such as certain fruits
and vegetables contaminated with microor-
ganisms. Furthermore, sucrose may be con-
taminated with bacterial spores and yeasts,
and water can be contaminated with patho-
genic microorganisms. The incoming materi-
als may contain hazardous chemicals. Fruits
may contain pesticide residues and water
could be contaminated with heavy metals
and chemical residues; whereas packaging
materials may contain harmful chemical
residues that could leach into the product.
Furthermore, the intermediate products may
become contaminated in the processing steps
from cleaning compound residues due to
improper rinsing. Incoming materials may
be contaminated with hazardous extraneous
material such as metal, plastic, glass frag-
ments, and wood slivers.
Washing fresh produce with water cannot
be relied upon to completely remove patho-