A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry May 2001
Contents: Updating diagnostics for BSE | Joint actions and interactions between food additives | FDA final juice HACCP regulation | New hygiene guidelines for the food industry | USDA claims HACCP led to a decline in illnesses | US risk ranking of ready-to-eat foods
JFDA final juice HACCP regulation
In January of this year FDA released its final ruling which requires juice processors to implement HACCP food safety plans and achieve a 5-log (100,000 fold) pathogen reduction in their products. Manufacturers who produce a shelf stable juice concentrate using a single thermal processing step will be exempt from the microbial hazard requirements of HACCP. The citrus industry also gains a separate exemption in that processors may apply the 5-log pathogen reduction step to the surface of the fruit in combination with microbial testing to assure the process is effective. Retail establishments that make and sell juice directly to consumers will not be required to comply with the regulation. Processors will be required to follow the warning label regulation (see Food Safety & Hygiene, May 1999) until they fully implement HACCP.
One option that FDA rejected before handing down its final rule was mandatory pasteurisation of juices, although pasteurisation is the obvious treatment which will allow processors to meet the new pathogen reduction requirement. FDA stated that pasteurisation is not the only method that can be used to address the pathogen reduction step and to mandate it could hinder the development of other technologies. Alternative technologies include the use of UV irradiation and high pressure treatment.
In February the FDA approved ultraviolet irradiation (UV) to reduce pathogens for all fruit and vegetable juices. Units used for this purpose must carry a validation certificate to prove they are capable of achieving the necessary 5-log reduction in target pathogens in the juice they are used to process.
The use of UV irradiation to reduce the numbers of microorganisms in fruit juices is not new (see, for example, Food Technology 22 1968 1451-4). The target organisms have, however, historically been spoilage yeasts and bacteria which shortened the shelf life of juices but did not pose a food safety hazard. There has always been reluctance to employ the UV treatment industrially because of the quenching effect of fruit pulp present in most commercial juices and the relatively slow throughput to ensure sufficient exposure of the contaminants to the UV light.
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