Control
Good bottling practices require checking
sanitation standards. Special kits are avail-
able to evaluate the level of sanitation
through a count of the number of receivable
yeasts or spoilage bacteria left in the wine
after filling.
Pest Control
Fruit flies are especially attracted to fer-
menting musts. A large proportion of the fly
population is brought to the winery from the
vineyard. The most effective control meas-
ures are the prompt crushing of grapes after
picking, removing of all dropped and culled
fruit from the winery, disposing of all
organic wastes, use of repellent insecticides
around the vineyard, washing of all contain-
ers and trucks after handling grapes, and use
of attractant insecticides on dumps. Maxi-
mum fly activity occurs in the range of
23.5ºC to 27.0ºC in low light intensity and
low wind velocity. Fans blow air out of win-
ery entrances. Mesh screens and air curtains
are also helpful.
Insecticides that kill fruit flies are avail-
able, but the heavy fly population in adjacent
unsprayed areas makes the effectiveness of
this practice questionable. If insecticides are
used, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
tolerances must be observed. (Chapter 13
provides additional information related to
fly, rodent, and bird control.)
Sanitation Monitoring
The most common method of sanitation
evaluation is sensory (Zoecklein et al.,
1995). Visual appearance and smell are
assessed and, sometimes, touch to determine
whether the surface feels clean. A slippery
surface suggests inadequate cleaning and/or
rinsing. In some instances, microbial sam-
pling should be conducted as a means of
verification.
Each microbial technique has limitations,
such as surface characteristics, definition of
area to be sampled, amount of pressure
applied to the surface, and time of applica-
tion (Zoecklein et al., 1995). Furthermore,
cotton swabs will not recover all microbes.
Thus, standardization of sampling proce-
dures will improve the success of sanitation
monitoring.Distillery sanitation
As with breweries and wineries, the com-
monly recognized microorganisms are nor-
mally of minimal concern in distilleries
because of the nature of the raw materials,
processing techniques, and high alcohol con-
centration. A possible safety exception is the
potential for contamination by significant
levels of toxic metabolic products. Control
of raw materials is essential because a con-
taminated finished product cannot be effec-
tively detoxified. Yield and product quality
are compromised when sanitary conditions
are not maintained (Arnett, 1992).Reduction of Physical Contamination
To practice effective sanitation, corn and
other grains are inspected upon arrival at the
plant. Insects are the major concern at this
stage, because a contaminated grain ship-
ment can infect the storage silos, as well as
the entire plant. The most common insect
pests for grain are flour beetles and weevils.
Off-odors are also important to detect at this
point, because many will persist through the
fermentation and become detectable in the
final product. Grain storage silos are rou-
tinely emptied 2 to 4 times a year, sprayed
with high-pressure hoses, and allowed to air
dry. The area surrounding the outside of the
silos is kept clean from grain dust by washing
the area with water and by periodic insecti-
cide spraying.Beverage Plant Sanitation 367