News Feature | February 9, 2015

Considerations For The Quality And Safety Of Cold-Chain Foods

By Isaac Fletcher, contributing writer, Food Online

Quality And Safety Of Cold-Chain Foods

Although cold-chain foods can be an offering that satisfied consumer desires, food manufacturers creating these types of product require diligent efforts in maintaining quality and safety

As a popular sector of the food industry, chilled foods provide the freshness, quality, and convenience that many consumers desire. In recent years, the industry has witnessed many breakthroughs in chilled-food technology, but having diligent controls in place is just as important as ever. For example, manufacturers need to be aware of microbiological safety, extended shelf life, temperature control, and nutrient retention.

There are two major principles manufacturers follow when it comes to controlling the safety and quality of chilled foods. The first is Product Process Package, or PPP, which includes factors that should be considered in the early stages of production. A general rule of thumb when employing PPP is to consider that all processing and handling steps will degrade a portion of the food material’s inherent natural qualities. Quality is not generally gained during processing, but it can easily be lost. In order to produce high-quality chilled foods, manufacturers need to source high-quality raw materials and ingredients. From there, product development teams need to evaluate the interactions between the ingredients in formulated foods.

PPP considerations include:

  • Product
    • The quality and suitability of ingredients
    • The quality of raw materials
    • How the ingredients integrate to form the final chilled food product
  • Process
    • How quick and effective the chilling operation is
    • Other additional processes included in the operation (heating, pasteurization, etc...)
  • Package
    • Ordinary packaging that offers physical and chemical barriers
    • Advanced packaging such as modified atmosphere packaging

When processing chilled foods, manufacturers should make use of “hurdle technology,” a series of steps, each of which works toward reducing microorganisms in food. Some of the regularly used hurdles include:

  • Physical hurdles
    • Heat (blanching, pasteurization, canning)
    • Cold (chilling, freezing)
    • Packaging (vacuum, aseptic, MAP)
  • Physicochemical hurdles
    • Salt, sugar, dehydration, water activity
    • Acidity
    • Sulfur dioxide, smoke, gases, ethanol
    • Chlorine
  • Microbially-derived hurdles
    • Competitive flora within the food’s micro-environment
    • Starter cultures
    • Bacteriocins

The other control principle, time-temperature tolerance, or TTT, includes factors that maintain the quality and safety of food during storage and methods to deliver foods with extended shelf lives. TTT concepts deal with the relationships between storage temperature and storage life. Different foods have different factors that dictate the rate at which quality degrades. To determine practical storage life, manufacturers should subject products to long-term storage at different temperatures. Additionally, TTT relationships can help manufacturers predict the effects of changing temperatures and how they impact quality shelf life.

Temperature control and monitoring are critical factors in controlling the safety and quality of chilled foods. It also is important to establish and maintain awareness about the potential growth of microorganisms such as Listeria, Yeresnia, and Aeromonas in chilled foods. The following factors are essential when it comes to achieving effective temperature control:

  • In production and storage
    • Use product temperatures as critical control points in executing a HACCP plan
  • In chilled food distribution
  • In chilled food retail display
    • To help maintain appropriate temperatures, warm products should not be placed into chilled food cabinets
    • Stacking arrangements and stocking practices should be optimized for maintaining low temperatures