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FSSAI amends law to ensure process hygiene & product safety in veggies
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Tuesday, 24 April, 2018, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Shraddha Joshi, Mumbai
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Process hygiene and product safety stand underlined as FSSAI, in a recent move, has revised microbiological standards for nine categories of fruits and vegetables including carbonated fruit beverages.
Notified as the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Fourth Amendment Regulations, 2018, the amendment would now address sampling plans and reference test methods, which were not previously mentioned in the principal regulation.
According to FSSAI, in the principal regulation, microbiological requirement for fruits and vegetables products were specified under Table 4 of Appendix B, wherein, no separate ‘Hygiene’ & ‘Safety’ criteria, as well as no sampling plans and reference test methods were specified. With this notification, these issues have been adequately addressed through the amendment.
As per the amended gazette, separate process hygiene and food safety criteria will be based on general microbial count and specific microbial count (hazardous microorganisms). Microbiological specifications for nine fruit and vegetable categories namely, fresh, processed, preserved, dried, and frozen products have been specified. Food Business Operators (FBOs) are instructed to comply with all the provisions of these regulations from January 1, 2019.
Definitions of Fruits and Vegetables and their Products
• Fresh: The whole fruits and vegetables that are sold fresh.
• Cut or minimally processed and packaged including juices: Fruits and vegetables which are washed or sanitised or peeled or cut up and made in to juice and packed.
• Fermented or pickled or acidified or with preservatives: Fruits and vegetables including their products which are preserved using living ferments like yeast, bacterium, mould, enzyme or in brine to produce lactic acid or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar (acetic acid), salt and sugar and edible vegetable oil.
• Pasteurised juices: Fruit and vegetable juices that are subjected to pasteurisation to destroy or inactivate harmful microorganisms.
• Carbonated fruit beverages (and fruit drinks): Any beverage or drink which is prepared from fruit juice and water or carbonated water and containing sugar, dextrose, invert sugar or liquid glucose either in single or in combination which may contain peel oil and fruit essences. It may also contain any other ingredients appropriate to the products.
• Frozen: Fruits and vegetables including their products which are subjected to a freezing process and maintained at temperature of -180C.
• Dehydrated or dried: Fruits and vegetables including their products which are preserved by removing most of their water content following an appropriate dehydrating process.
• Thermally processed (other than pasteurisation at less than 100°C): Fruits and vegetables including their products which are processed by heat in an appropriate manner before or after being sealed in a container so as to prevent spoilage.
• Retort processed: Fruits and vegetables including their products which are canned or flexible packaged, processed by retorting.
As per the notification, the category “Fresh” shall be regulated in accordance with the Good Manufacturing Practices and Good Hygiene Practices specified under Schedule 4 of FSS (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses) Regulations, 2011. Carbonated fruit beverages and pasteurised fruit juices can be excluded for testing of Listeria, where the potential of hydrogen (pH- a logarithmic scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution) should be below 4.4.
Appreciating the FSSAI move, Khalid Pherwaz, expert member from Food Safety Knowledge Assimilation Network (FSKAN), a body under FSSAI, said, “I appreciate this effort of FSSAI in establishing data on the microbiological quality of a range of raw fruit and vegetables. However, these quality standards must be established for non-ready-to-eat horticultural commodities and imported food products also. The sampling plan and test methods should be specified for each category of food and products.”
He added, “Microorganisms are natural contaminants of fresh produce and minimally processed fresh-cut products, and contamination arises from a number of sources, including post-harvest handling and processing. It is recommended that the produce be prepared and handled in accordance with International Code of Practice – General Principles of Food Hygiene (CAC/RCP 1-1969, Rev. 4-2003), Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CAC/RCP 53-2003). The produce should comply with any microbiological criteria established in accordance with the Principles for the Establishment and Application of Microbiological Criteria for Foods (CAC/GL 21-1997). Contaminants like Heavy Metals and Pesticides also need to be checked and standardised in the fresh fruits and vegetables.”
However, Pherwaz stated, “The sampling plan should have been more clarified. It should be in accordance with International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF). Commodities with pH 4.5 or less are not likely to represent a major hazard and criteria are not recommended. The limit/microbiological quality (CFU/g) should be categorised in to four groups i.e., Satisfactory, Marginal, Unsatisfactory, and Potentially Hazardous.”
Application of Microbiological Standards
The microbiological standards with respect to the products categories specified in Table-4A (Process Hygiene Criteria) indicate the acceptable functioning of the production process. These are not to be used as requirements for releasing the products in the market. These are indicative values above which corrective actions are required in order to maintain the hygiene of the process in compliance with food law. These shall be applicable at the end of the manufacturing process.
The Microbiological Standards in Table-4B (Food Safety Criteria) define the acceptability of a batch/lot and shall be met in respect of the products at the end of the
manufacturing process and the products in the market during their shelf-life.
Sampling Plans and Guidelines
For regulator, the sampling for different microbiological standards specified in Table-4A and 4B shall be ensured aseptically at manufacturing units and/or at retail points, as applicable, by a trained person with specialised knowledge in the field of microbiology following guidelines in the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products and Food Additives) Regulations, 2011 and ISO: 707 (Latest version). Whereas for FBOs, they shall perform testing as appropriate as per the microbiological standards in Table-4A & 4B to ensure validation and verification of compliance with the microbiological requirements.
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