Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) Plan for Dried Fruit Processing

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November, 2016
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To process dried pineapples, fresh pineapples are washed, peeled, cured and sliced into rings or chunks. Sliced pineapples are then dipped in 5 ppm Na2S2O5 and spread on trays for drying in a forced hot air chamber set at 62°C to 65°C for 24 hours. Dried fruits, usually to a moisture content of 12% to 13%, are cooled, trimmed and packed. In this study, the principles of HACCP were applied to forced air dried fruits processing using pineapple as the reference product. Following a typical batch processing from reception of raw materials to the final product is packed in a secondary carbon carton, each process step was correctly identified and subjected to hazard analysis to identified all potential food safety hazards that could possibly be associated with each step. Each hazard identified was classified based on the three major hazards, (biological, chemical and physical) and subjected to a hazard evaluation matrix to determine the level of significance. Six (6) hazards associated with five (5) processing steps were evaluated to have high level of significance. The steps are peeling, drying, trimming and metal scanning and the hazards are biological except for peeling and drying that also possess significant physical hazard risk from iron fillings from cutting edges and rust within the drying chamber. Subjecting these steps to the CCP Decision Tree, the drying and scanning steps were identified as CCPs to control biological and physical hazards respectively. Drying at 62°C for 24 hours does not only destroy pathogens but also brings the product to moisture content of less than 14%, aw ˂.065 and 3.04-4.0 pH. These characteristics also constitute a multi-huddle to prevent survival and growth of most pathogens. A metal detector validated for Ferrous 1.19mm, Non-ferrous 2.0mm and Stainless 2.5mm is also effective CCP for detecting and eliminating products that could be contaminated with iron fillings or flacks of rust. Thus two (2) CCPs were identified and critical limits set for drying at 62°C for 24 hours and scanning with a metal detector with sensitivity of Ferrous 1.19mm, Non-ferrous 2.0mm and Stainless 2.5mm.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Food Science and Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements Master of Science degree in Food Quality Management.
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