Food Safety Magazine, June/July 2012

Package
sterilization
and aseptic
filling

Hazard

Biological:
C. botulinum
spores

Critical limit

Equipment-
critical factors
for hydrogen
peroxide as
sterilant for
packaging
sterilization
(contact time,
temperature
and concentration)

Summary

Low-acid aseptic beverage systems represent a highly complex sector of the food industry. Historically, these processes represent a successful story, as most of the food safety design requirements are predefined by equipment manufacturers and

Table 3: Example of Packaging Sterilization Process Documentation PLC: programmable logic controller

Suchart Chaven is a food safety director for PepsiCo AMEA (Asia, Middle East & Africa) in Dubai.

Ana Sedarati is a microbiology and sanitation manager at PepsiCo AMEA in Dubai.

Continuous
PLC
monitoring

Corrective action

Refer to defined
equipment-critical
factors; stop
production;
segregate and
hold affected
product for
disposition

Records

Online
records,
charts and
corrective
action records

the process authority in the commercialization process with final verification by the HACCP team. A strong partnership must be maintained among all parties, as there can be little room for error when C. botulinum is the primary hazard. n

References

1. Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. 2011.

2. Code of Hygienic Practice for Aseptically Processed and Packaged Low-Acid Food. CAC/RCP 40-1993.

3. Ansari, M.I.A. and A. K. Datta. 2003. An Overview of Sterilization Methods for Packaging Materials used in Aseptic Packaging Systems. Trans ChemE 81: 57–65.

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