Presentations:
- IAFP Workshop Proposal - Low-Moisture Pasteurization.pdf (150.8KB) - Agenda
FSMA Preventive Controls Rules ultimately will require all food processors to validate processes for the reduction of Salmonella in low-moisture food ingredients/products. However, very few programs educate, train, or prepare individuals to deal with the unique challenges associated with pasteurizing low-moisture products, such as dynamic water activity during processing, and the resulting impact on Salmonellaheat resistance. Individuals being assigned these responsibilities in the industry typically have educational backgrounds that include training in traditional thermal processing (e.g., in low-acid canned foods). However, such training/background has significant gaps, relative to unique attributes of low-moisture foods, in terms of both engineering and microbiological principles.
This workshop is designed to fill that gap, at a very critical time for the industry. Experts from industry, academia, and government will lead participants through a systematic approach to preparing for, designing, and carrying out a low-moisture process validation. The workshop will include interactive case studies and hands-on participation. Upon completion of this workshop, participants should be able to: describe regulatory expectations for process validations, explain critical factors affecting Salmonella resistance to lethal treatments, outline a general process for conducting a low-moisture pasteurization validation, identify key variables to measure/control/report, and evaluate process efficacy based on the use of non-pathogenic surrogate data and/or inactivation models applied to product time-temperature-moisture data.
This is an updated version of a very successful, fully-enrolled workshop that this team led at IAFP 2014. The ongoing phasing-in of the Preventive Controls Rules, important new research on Salmonella inactivation in low-moisture products, and continuing technology developments should make another offering of this workshop timely and in high demand. The workshop organizers/team will work with a variety of other stakeholder groups in the low-moisture sectors, to promote this workshop for IAFP.