Page 36 - FoodFocusThailand No.165 December 2019

STRONG QC & QAQA
STRONG QC &

Food Safety

Practice & Guideline for Canned Food Products

“Instead of trying to get ones who make a mistake, trying to help each other figure it out what causes the
mistake and how to prevent it from occurring again”. This sentence is the cornerstone of everyday situations,
especially the problems that arise from working in the food industry.

In this article, the author presents an example of the situation in a should be determined whether or not they meet the standard
food factory that has produced canned food products and found a requirements. In case of random swelling cans, it may cause by over-
problem with a number of swelling cans distributed on the pallets after standard sizes of some pieces or improperly stirred of media that
1 week of storage. In which, if the whole pallet is swollen, it could be causes an uneven viscosity, in which some cans are too viscous.
diagnosed that necessary conditions haven’t been met sterilization Case study, corrective action: increasing strictness of product
process. But, when it is distributed randomly, many questions needed size inspection in the packing process, examining the mixing process
to be identified are arisen. of media for cases of adding the thickeners agent to dissolve
Canned food that has been sterilized by a retort is often homogeneously, and randomly checking the viscosity during the filling
misunderstood for controlling only the come-up time, sterilization process.
temperature, and the duration of sterilization as required by the process
authority. The fact is that there are many other control indicators. The Pack Weight Overweight packing can result in an incomplete
indicators that the production and quality control departments have to sterilization. Therefore, control process for both drain weight and
monitor to prevent incomplete sterilization, which could be one of the 2net weight before seaming is very important, especially any raw
reasons for the spread of swollen products. Therefore, the following materials added that may increase the viscosity of the final product,
important control values must not be ignored: such as basil seeds, etc.
Case study analysis: When experiencing swollen of cans, packing
Product Characteristics in Packing Processes weight should be checked if it exceeds the standard. Inaccurate filling
Every time the heat penetration study of each product group are heads equipment can also cause packing errors or else weighing errors
1conducted, the process authority often prompts manufacturers by staff themselves.
to prepare samples in the worst case scenario as a representative in Case study, corrective action: Strictly increase accuracy in weight
the sterilization process determination. The sample preparation is, checking and reviewing the accuracy of the equipment used, such as
however, should also be based on actual production. Otherwise, the filling heads, weight scales, etc.
sterilization process may run too long of a time or higher temperatures
than is necessary, causing undesirable color or flavor of the final Initial Temperature Initial temperature count on the first
products. Things to control include: can that keeps apart from the batch retort and places it in
Production formulas: Emphasis on various substances that affect 3conditions similar to other products waiting to be sterilized. The
the sterilization, including sweeteners, thickening agent, emulsifiers, temperature of the first canned product affects the determination of
etc. In any case, high-viscosity products require longer time in a the sterilization process. If the temperature is lower than the specified
sterilization process. threshold, it may result in an incomplete sterilization. Even so, the
Pieces of product sizes: The larger the thicker the meat, the longer temperature before sterilzation depends on the temperature in the
the sterilization time requires. filling and the duration of the delay time. In case, the delay time takes
Case study: analysis: For swelling up of canned food products, a long period of time and the temperature is lower than the standard
the size of the meat and viscosity (in the case of high-viscosity products) requirements, the entire batch usually has the same problem, and
normally does not cause random swelling.
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