Abbreviations: HACCP, hazard analysis critical control points; FDA, food and drug administration; CCPs, critical control points; NASA, national aeronautics and space administration; MPN, most probable number; TBA, thiobarbituric acid
IntroductionTraditional quality assurance programs and facility inspections have proven to be inadequate in controlling many food-borne illnesses.1 Also, results of the WHO surveillance program 2 indicate that the number of causative agents of food-borne diseases continues increase. The best way to achieve disease reduction and food product quality assurance is through implementation of the preventative system of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) from production to consumption of dairy products.3 HACCP is a system that was developed for assuring pathogen free foods for the space program by the Pillsbury Company, the U.S. Army and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has considered developing regulations of HACCP system for the dairy industry.
1,4The HACCP system is a systematic approach to the identification and assessment of risk and use preventative actions to control of the microbiological, chemical and physical hazards associated with each segment of the food chain from the production to consumption following the seven basic principles, which are used to develop and implement a HACCP program as follows: Analyze hazards, determine Critical Control Points (CCPs), establish critical limits for CCPs, monitor CCPs, take corrective action, record keeping and verify that the system is working. 5 The goal of these CCPs is to ensure that food safety hazard can be prevented, controlled, reduced or eliminated. Most of the hazards are brought in by raw materials. 6 Cheese is the most popular dairy products in the world, produced in a great rang of types and forms throughout the world countries.7 Most large cheese manufactory companies have implemented HACCP system to produce safe and good quality product. HACCP is a plant-specific and product-specific quality system.
6This work aims to study application and implementation of HACCP system plan as a food safety tool during fresh Domiati cheese production in Dairy Technology Unit, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University as a small-scale cheese plant, to identify microbiological and chemical hazards and determine the Critical Control Points (CCPs) in fresh Domiati cheese production line.
Materials and methods
SamplesProcessing steps of cheese production line were followed by collection samples at each step; also samples were taken from the raw materials such as; raw milk, salt and rennet enzyme as well as the water supply. The samples were collected in sterilized containers and transferred directly to the laboratory and analyzed without delay for microbiology, but preserved in freezer for chemical tests. Different swabs were taken from the equipments, utensils, work surfaces and food handlers during production processes.
AbstractHazard Analysis and Critical Con...
