Principles of Food Sanitation

Waste Disposal

Wastes can be handled more effectively and
salvaged more efficiently as by-products if
solid and liquid wastes are separated. Solid
wastes are frequently separated through some
method of pick up and/or transfer of solid
materials before being flushed into drains or
gutters. The liquid waste that is flushed away
is usually handled as liquid waste and is
treated as effluent, according to methods dis-
cussed in Chapter 12. Some food processing
plants are processing waste by-products. The
citrus industry incorporates more than 99%
of the raw material for juices, concentrates, or
dried cattle feed. Salvage efficiency has
increased with reduced cost of waste disposal.

Water Supply

As with other cleaning applications, an
abundant, high-quality water supply is nec-
essary to produce a wholesome product and
to effectively clean the plant. In addition to
being used as a cleaning medium, water is
important as a heat transfer medium, and it
is used in the processed products.
The sanitary condition of water should be
monitored daily for two criteria: bacterial
content and organic or inorganic impurities.
Bacterial content serves as a guide for accept-
ability for use in contact with the food or any
surface responsible for indirect contamina-
tion. The effectiveness of water in washing
the product or equipment is dependent on
organic and inorganic impurities.

Role of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Points (HACCP)
The juice industry now requires HACCP.
As with meat and poultry firms, those classi-
fied as retail operations are exempted from
coverage under the juice HACCP regulation.
Contributions by the industry, academic, and
government communities have been instru-
mental in advancing juice safety through the

application of HACCP. The FDA places the

highest inspection priority to firms that pro-

duce non-pasteurized juice because of the

possibility of production through novel pro-

cessing methods which merit closer regula-

tory monitoring when implemented in

HACCP. Secondary priority is given to firms

with deviations during their first inspection

(Kashtock, 2004).

Cleaning of processing plants

A hygienic product results from rigid sani-

tation and effective destruction of microbes

during processing. Conventional fruit and

vegetable canning operations may be charac-

terized as pouring food into containers (i.e.,

metal, glass, or plastic), followed by sealing

and heat treatment. This heat treatment is

referred to as terminal sterilization and is

designed to eliminate extremely large num-

bers ofClostridium botulinumspores and to

reduce the chance of survival of the much

more heat resistant spores of spoilage organ-

isms. This condition is called commercial

sterility. The process of aseptic packaging is

sometimes called aseptic canning. In the

aseptic process, the food and containers are

commercially sterilized separately. The food

is cooled to an acceptable filling temperature

with subsequent filling and sealing of the

containers under aseptic conditions.

The microbial destruction (kill step) dur-

ing terminal sterilization is accomplished for

sealed containers and, because of the excel-

lent control that is technically possible over

container integrity, conventional canning is

safe technology. This technology is also suit-

able for the HACCP approach.

Aseptic packaging is a relatively new tech-

nology; thus, development of test methods is

important. Active areas of development and

concern are package integrity and mainte-

nance of sterility, package performance in

Fruit and Vegetable Processing Plant Sanitation 341