Clostridium botulinum in frozen vacuum packed products
Hi everyone
I need your help for some microbiological testing plan. we have developed a seafood based frozen curries, which are cook to final temperature of 80-85 degrees Celsius which is conventional open pan cooking and not retort. hot product (65-70 degrees Celsius) is then packed in airtight polypropylene box and then passes through blast freezer, product core temper is -18 C or below after blast freezing. then product is finally vacuum sealed / packed in flexible plastic bag through vacuum machine.
our other microbiological results are satisfactory for finished product for salmonella, e.coli, vibrio and staphylococcus aureus.
now I have to see for clostridium, is there any chance of clostridium botulinum growth during storage of product at -18 C, when product is in frozen form, I mean can clostridium survive frozen temperature, as we normally see that retort products are susceptible to the growth of botulinum if sterilization is not properly done and product is stored at ambient temperature. if anybody can guide me on this. thanks
It can survive as vegetative cells through that process
however, as long as the process is swift from cook to chill and you've validated the process, you should not be at risk of growth
Hi everyone
I need your help for some microbiological testing plan. we have developed a seafood based frozen curries, which are cook to final temperature of 80-85 degrees Celsius which is conventional open pan cooking and not retort. hot product (65-70 degrees Celsius) is then packed in airtight polypropylene box and then passes through blast freezer, product core temper is -18 C or below after blast freezing. then product is finally vacuum sealed / packed in flexible plastic bag through vacuum machine.
our other microbiological results are satisfactory for finished product for salmonella, e.coli, vibrio and staphylococcus aureus.
now I have to see for clostridium, is there any chance of clostridium botulinum growth during storage of product at -18 C, when product is in frozen form, I mean can clostridium survive frozen temperature, as we normally see that retort products are susceptible to the growth of botulinum if sterilization is not properly done and product is stored at ambient temperature. if anybody can guide me on this. thanks
No.
Yes.
You might find this an interesting read (including its 3 sub-links) -
https://ucanr.edu/si...gency/Botulism/
here is a more technically deep analysis -
Fish-and-Fishery-Products-Hazards-and-Controls-Guidance-Chapter-13.pdf 888.07KB 9 downloads
thanks Scampi and Charles. C for your help. after reading all the data now I am very clear on this topic. also I start considering the listeria as target organism
Make sure to include a “keep frozen” statement on your label. This will be your control for C. Bot growth and checking the labels for such statement should be a CCP.
Re ^^^(red) - The USA (C.botulinum) Regulations may well be atypical .