Cleaning procedures should be customised to meat product: study
By staff reporter
Source of Article: http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Cleaning-procedures-should-be-customised-to-meat-product-study
10-Sep-2008 -
Meat factories may need to
modify their cleaning and disinfecting procedures according to the type of meat
product being processed to prevent food poisoning outbreaks,
claims a new
Researchers
from the
The team
claims that biofilms, which are bacteria
that form communities on surfaces, are much more highly resistant to cleaning
products and antibiotics.
In their
opinion, a bacterium such as Listeria's
success in persisting in processing environments comes partly from its ability
to form resistant biofilms, and partly from its
tolerance to drying out, thus enabling it to survive on ‘clean’ surfaces.
The
researchers said that they also evaluated the influence of different cooked
meat juices including beef, pork, lamb, chicken and duck on the attachment of Liseria to surfaces.
"We
found significant differences between the ability of Listeria to stick to
stainless steel surfaces at different temperatures, depending upon which meat
was used,” said Professor Lisa Dodd. “Cooked
duck juices at 25°C allowed the highest levels of Listeria attachment.”
Meanwhile,
Project ZEAL (Zero Emissions by Advanced cLeaning),
led by Birmingham University's chemical engineering department, aims to
understand the nature of soils
that deposit on process equipment surfaces and to then apply novel measurement
techniques to ensure that the right cleaning procedure is chosen and applied
with the minimum of environmental impact.
ZEAL is
a four year project with funding of £3.6m from the UK Technology Strategy
Board.
"The
consortium hopes that by better understanding the generic principles of
industrial cleaning and the kinds of fouling most commonly encountered,
manufacturers can reduce the time and resources they spend on cleaning
production equipment between product runs," Dr Milla Shah from the
The
researchers said they have developed a 'cleaning map' through classifying soils
based on starch, sugars, proteins and brewery deposits and then relating the
physical properties of the soils to the best applicable removal conditions.
A pilot
plant will allow the team to test 'traditional' as well as innovative measuring
and monitoring techniques to evaluate cleaning rates and interaction with
soils, claim the researchers.
"Results
from the project will initially be applied in the factories of ZEAL's industrial partners but will be transferable across
industry," added Dr Shah.
The
project partners include four major manufacturers, Cadbury, Scottish &
Newcastle, Unilever HPC, and Glaxo Smith Kline as
well as four suppliers, GEA, Alfa Laval, Ecolab and Bruker
Optics.
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