GMP of inoculation process at yoghurt product
Hai,
did anyone know about standard gmp at inoculation step in making yoghurt product?
is it need aseptic room?
how if i hv non aseptic room and i need to do inoculation on that room for producing yoghurt?
please advice
thanks :)
Hilda,
I worked in a Yogurt factory in the United States at my previous roll as Quality Coordinator.
Our Fermentation room had the normal GMP's required (hairnet, beardnet if applicable, washing hands before entering, etc.) We had a freezer inside the room to hold the cultures, 3 fermentation tanks, a tank that held water that had been through the HTST, and a tank that held the yogurt white base.
We didn't require any other types of equipment other than gloves for when the operator was inoculating the milk. We had them fill a bucket with warm water and they dunked the frozen package of culture in the water for a little bit to wake up the cultures and get them ready to get to work. They opened the package, with gloved hands, with a sanitized knife. Another operator sprayed sanitizer on/ around the closed hatch then that operator opened up the top hatch of the fermentation tank and then the operator dumped the culture into the tank.
That was pretty much how we did it.
Hai,
did anyone know about standard gmp at inoculation step in making yoghurt product?
is it need aseptic room?
how if i hv non aseptic room and i need to do inoculation on that room for producing yoghurt?
please advice
thanks :)
Hi Hilda,
An aseptic environment is required if you are packing long life (ambient stable) yoghurt. In most cases for long life yoghurts inoculation is not in an aseptic environment but the fermented yoghurt is usually re-pasteurized then held and filled under aseptic conditions. The alternative would be hot filling or aseptic inoculation of the base in or en route to an aseptic tank feeding an aseptic filler (a more complex arrangement).
For fresh yoghurts 'aseptic conditions' are not necessary unless you are pushing the boundaries of shelf life. Bear in mind that contamination in the air (yeast & molds) can contaminate the product and affect the shelf life. Any contamination is 'incubated' and increases significantly. It is common practice to have air filtration, monitoring of air quality and regular fogging in the inoculation, incubation and filling environment.
Inoculation procedures as Mr Inc. has indicated should ensure that the yoghurt base is not contaminated when you inoculate. So spraying gloves, the outside of the culture pack and the hatch are important.
I would not 'dunk' in water to defrost as this adds a contamination risk (contaminated water dripping into yoghurt base on inoculation), besides I expect that in Indonesia frozen cultures are less practical and freeze dried are more common.
Also culture packs can usually be opened without a knife these days and I prefer 'easy open' packs as there is less risk of part of the packaging ending up in the yoghurt base.
Regards,
Tony
oh you know I think it may have been warm sanitizer they dunked the bag in rather than water. Good catch on that Tony.
When I made yogurt, the starter culture was DVI /DVS and all we did was to sanitise the outside of the bag and pour the frozen contents straight into the vat.
As Tony C mentioned, we used to fog on a regular basis to ensure no contamination by bacteriophages (as well as Y&M)
Otherwise, the usual GMP should suffice
Cazx
As Tony C mentioned, we used to fog on a regular basis to ensure no contamination by bacteriophages (as well as Y&M)
Cazx
Yes that's a good point along with phage alternative starters as back up.
Regards,
Tony
Yeah... I mean fighting phage isn't really a GMP issue but we had 3 cultures we rotated for our yogurt. We didn't fog the tanks for phage we CIP-ed them if I remember correctly.
We cip'd the tanks, we fogged the tank room though
Yeah... I mean fighting phage isn't really a GMP issue but we had 3 cultures we rotated for our yogurt. We didn't fog the tanks for phage we CIP-ed them if I remember correctly.
Mr Inc.
Whilst I understand your statement controlling phage in the environment is as important to manufacturers of cultured products as much as controlling pathogens so GMPs are important.
Regards,
Tony