HACCP is hazard analysis and critical control point. Through preventive methods, the key points in the processing process are supervised and controlled, thus reducing the probability of hazards and ensuring safer food for consumers.
1. Overview of low-temperature meat products
(1) Definition
Low-temperature meat products are named after being classified according to different heating and sterilization temperatures in meat products processing in recent years. Compared with high-temperature meat products, low-temperature meat products can inhibit microbial growth in a lower temperature environment, that is, low-temperature processing: pickling (0 ~ 4℃), cooking (75 ~ 85℃), raising the meat center temperature to 68 ~ 72℃ for more than 30min, and transporting, storing and selling (0 ~ 4℃). In low-temperature processing, the protein of meat is moderately denatured, basically maintaining its original elasticity, and the meat is firm and chewy, which can maintain the original nutrition and flavor of meat to the greatest extent, but its shelf life is short, usually only about 30 days.
(2) Product description
Low-temperature meat products are mainly made of livestock and poultry meat; Commonly used auxiliary materials are salty, sweet, umami and other seasonings. In order to improve the quality of food, sometimes a certain amount of food additives such as antioxidants, colorants, chromogenic agents, water-retaining agents, emulsifiers and preservatives need to be added.
The finished product should meet the sensory index, physical and chemical index and microbial index of low-temperature meat products. The casing is dry and complete, closely combined with meat stuffing, with solid and elastic contents, uniform thickness, pink or rose-red slices, solid, smooth and bright sections, uniform meat color, white fat, fresh and delicious, salty and light, delicious and delicious, and no peculiar smell. The packaging form is that the inner layer is natural casing, collagen casing, cellulose casing, cellophane casing, plastic casing, etc., and the outer layer is tightly packed, inflated and packed with deoxidizer. The eating method is to eat immediately after opening the bag or frying. The shelf life is 60 days at 0 ~ 4℃ and 180 days at -18℃.
(3) Processing links
The processing of low-temperature meat products generally includes the following steps: receiving raw materials (raw meat and auxiliary materials) → thawing raw meat → trimming → proportion of raw materials and auxiliary materials → making meat stuffing (twisting, pickling, chopping and rolling, etc.) → pouring → cooking → cooling → cutting (slicing) → metal detection → inspection (sensory, microbial, etc.) → packaging and warehousing.
2. Application of HACCP system in the processing of low-temperature meat products.
(1) Hazard analysis in the processing of low-temperature meat products.
Hazard analysis of low-temperature meat products generally includes the following aspects: receiving raw meat, receiving auxiliary materials, thawing, dividing, twisting (tender meat), chopping (rolling), pouring, smoking and cooking, cooling, slicing (cutting), metal detection, packaging and warehousing.
As long as the biological hazards of these processes or control points are analyzed and effectively controlled, and a reasonable environment is formulated for each step to control the growth of microorganisms, the shelf life can be extended.
(2) Determine the key control points
HACCP system emphasizes critical point control, which is a point, a step or a procedure that can control and prevent, eliminate or reduce a factor endangering the safety of low-temperature meat products to an acceptable level. Therefore, the critical control point must be controllable, which emphasizes the control and monitoring of processing steps, and the control of this process has the best effect on ensuring food safety.
CCP can be any step in the production process, which is determined by the specificity of the product/processing process. If there are changes in the processing process, instruments and equipment, hygiene control of ingredients suppliers, etc., CCP may change. It can be seen that the critical control points have the characteristics of change; It is worth noting that the introduction point of hazards in food is not necessarily the control point of hazards.
(3) Determine the critical limit value
The critical limit is an index to distinguish the acceptance level from the non-acceptance level, so as to ensure that each CCP is limited to a safe value. The critical limit is often some process parameters, such as temperature, time, moisture content, water activity, pH, etc., but it is not necessarily the same as the existing processing parameters. A good critical limit is intuitive and easy to detect. Determining the critical limit of low-temperature meat products is based on the laws, regulations and standards related to meat processing, and verified by a large number of experimental studies.
(4) Determine the measures to monitor CCP.
Monitoring is a planned and orderly observation or measurement to judge whether CCP is under control, with accurate records, which can be used for future evaluation. As far as possible, CCP should be continuously monitored by physical and chemical methods, and the trend that may deviate from the critical limit should be closely watched. If the critical limit cannot be continuously monitored, there should be enough intermittent frequency to observe and determine the change characteristics of CCP to ensure that CCP is under control.
The contents of monitoring include four items, namely, monitoring objects (raw materials, cooking, metal foreign bodies), monitoring methods (online and offline), monitoring frequency (continuous monitoring, discontinuous monitoring) and monitoring personnel (on-site operators), and written documents are provided.
(5) Establish corrective measures
When the monitoring shows that it deviates from the critical limit or does not meet the critical limit, corrective measures should be taken. Every CCP should have appropriate corrective measures, so as to correct or restore the problems in case of deviation and ensure that CCP is under control again. Corrective measures are generally divided into two steps: the first step is to eliminate the causes of deviation and rework; The second step is to determine the products produced during the deviation period and decide how to deal with them. Rectification records include corrective measures and treatment.
(6) Establish record-keeping procedures
In the whole process of implementing HACCP system, there should be a large number of technical documents and daily monitoring records, which should be comprehensive and kept completely, including hazard analysis worksheet, HACCP plan sheet, monitoring, inspection and correction records, etc., and can be quickly queried once problems occur. The records and documents maintained confirm whether the methods, procedures and experiments adopted in the implementation process are consistent with the HACCP plan.
(7) Establish verification procedures.
HACCP motto is that verification is enough to believe. Verify the methods and procedures of application, as well as the scientificity and rationality of test, evaluation and monitoring, and review whether the critical limits can control hazards and ensure the normal implementation of HACCP plan. Validation is used to evaluate the effectiveness of HACCP system, such as using microbial test results to confirm whether the whole operation is under control. The containers, equipment, staff's hand samples and final products in the processing process were tested by microorganisms respectively, and all of them met the standards. This proves the effectiveness and compliance of HACCP system.
3. Conclusion
Because there are many kinds of raw materials and low sterilization temperature in the production of low-temperature meat products, the probability of microbial contamination is greatly increased, so the selection of raw materials, cooking and metal detection are determined as key control points. HACCP system is not a zero-risk system, and it is impossible to achieve 100% safety in actual operation, but it is managed scientifically to minimize food safety hazards. In a word, HACCP is a preventive management system, the most effective management method to ensure food safety, which has been gradually pushed to the whole world and become a common food safety control system in the world. In the production of low-temperature meat products, as long as reasonable measures are taken to ensure the normal operation of HACCP plan, the safety of low-temperature meat products can be ensured to have the best effect.
