Raw milk can contain unacceptable levels of pathogenic microorganisms
that can cause illness or even death
if consumed after a certain period of time.
In order to safely store milk over time,
it needs to be treated to lower the pathogens and be fit for human consumption.
There are several methods of doing this.
Heat treatment is a common practice
for processing dairy products at a higher temperature or for a longer time,
which allows for a more sterile product resulting in a longer shelf life.
Batch pasteurisation is a low temperature, long time processing technique,
where a volume of dairy is agitated and heated uniformly in a covered vessel,
which reduces the survival of pathogens to make it safe for human consumption.
The product is then rapidly cooled to prevent the growth of any microorganisms
that may have survived the heat treatment process.
High Temperature Short Time Pasteurisation
is a process where the product passes in a continuous flow
through heating and cooling equipment in order to receive the required heat treatment.
HTST pasteurisation
usually allows for processing of greater volumes than batch pasteurisation.
Extended Shelf Life and Ultra High Temperature
are processes which use higher temperatures
or times to provide a greater lethal effect on pathogenic microorganisms
to sterilise milk products.
Your site must determine which treatment system will be applicable to the manufactured product
and validate this to prove its effectiveness.
A description of each product being heat treated is required as there may be different critical limits
for each product based on certain characteristics.
For example, cream has a greater fat content and particle size than milk,
so, would have different minimum limits for flow rate, holding temperature, and holding time to achieve pasteurisation.
You will need to have supporting evidence of how the heat treatment system is validated.
Validation means to obtain evidence to show that an inplace control measure
can eliminate or reduce a hazard to an acceptable level when implemented correctly.
You also need to ensure that you conduct regular documented checks of your pasteurisers
to ensure that they are operating as intended
and maintained in an appropriate condition
to achieve effective pasteurisation without any risk of cross contamination.
Read on further as we explore the requirements in greater detail.