ALICYCLOBACILLUSReview12/12/06

Ian HowardTechnical Manager – Raw Materials

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Gerber

• Were called “Gerber Foods Soft Drinks ltd”now we are “Gerber Juice co ltd”

• Pack for supermarkets• 2 factories in UK, 2 in Germany, 1 in Poland, 1

in France, 1 in Turkey• Emig is part of the group• Annual AJC purchase ~ MT

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Summary

• Properties of ACB• Previous incidents• Current issues• My observations• ACB – going forward• Summary

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Alicyclobacillus• Spore forming bacteria, VERY Heat

resistant• Grows in acidic conditions, pH 2.5 to 6• Needs to be warm, >20C but optimum 45C• Not pathogenic• Taint producer:

– Bromophenols - antiseptic / mouthwash– Guaiacol - hammy, smoky bacon

• Very little visible evidence of growth in thefinished product

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Alicyclobacillus – cont.• More than 15 species in the genus• Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris most often

implicated in spoilage incidents• Taints are not always produced• It has been identified in:

– Fruit juices and concentrates– Sugar syrups– Pectins, acids, thickeners– Teas

• WATER !!

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Incidents – AIJN questionnaire 2005• 68 questionnaires returned – world wide• 45% had a problem in the last 3 years with

alicyclobacillus ( ACB)• 18 companies identified APPLE as the

source of the problem• 4 identified orange,• ALL other sources: 11

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Is it such a big problem?

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GERBER - ACB results since 1/June/06

No77China 3

No00156China 1YESYesUK

YESYESYES

Deliverieshalted ?

No1143440China 2

2

1

412001

ACBHigh

No245664China 4

No178Germany 3No1158Germany 2

No32211Germany 1Yes0102Poland 5No276677Poland 4No0178Poland 3No0044Poland 2No145258Poland 1

Taint injuice ?

ACBMedium

ACBLow

ACB NotDetected

NumberofDeliveries

Supplier

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Why Is There ACB in Apple JuiceConcentrate ?

• Contaminated fruit• Dirty flume water• Inadequate washing and sorting• Inappropriate use of evaporator water• Over reliance on Ultra Filtration• Inadequate sterilisation of the plant• Poor testing

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Contaminated Fruit• ACB is ubiquitous in soil• Wind blown dust• Fruit picked up from the ground• Fruit stored on the ground• “Dirty” lorries• Twigs and leaves

“ACB is not IN the fruit it is ON the fruit”

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Flume Water – Alicyclobacillus Soup• Change frequency?

– Hourly?– 8 hourly?– Daily?– Weekly ( whether it needs it or not ) ?

• On what basis is it changed ?– When it looks dirty?– When it does not interfere with production?– Cost of the “clean” water?– Cost of getting rid of it?– When the levels of ACB have risen to a point

where they start to overwhelm the fruit washingstation ?

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Inadequate washing and sorting• No Fruit rotation under the “clean” water

sprays• No controls on quantity of fruit being rinsed

or sorted• Poorly positioned water sprays• Use of untreated evaporator water• No in-place cleaning of the picking belts

“Once the fruit is in the mill it is damagelimitation there after”

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Poland

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Poland

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Poland

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Turkey

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Turkey

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Turkey

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Evaporator Water• Everybody uses it somewhere in the plant• It often contains ACB, >1000 spores /ml• An Evaporator is an ideal place to grow ACB• How often should it be tested for the

presence of ACB?– Daily?– Weekly?– Every season?– Never?

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Evaporator Water cont.

• It should be tested regularly with a reliableand sensitive method to ensure that– EITHER it is free of ACB under all plant

conditions– OR the treatment it receives continues to

be effective

• Evaporator Water should be handled andused with care

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Filtration• Ultra Filtration can remove ACB spores from

the juice stream but these items ofequipment are run to produce juice of aspecified turbidity NOT an absence of ACB

• Dedicated ACB filters can be very effective

• They should not be able to be bypassed

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Plant Cleaning and Sterilisation

• Does a hot solution of sodium hydroxide killACB spores?

PROBABLY NOT

Sterilisation and cleaning are not the same.

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Sterilants

3.530300Peraceticacid

>5104,000Hydrogenperoxide

>5540Chlorinedioxide

6101000Hypochlorite

LogReductions

Timeminutes

Concentrationppm

Substance

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Plant Cleaning and Sterilisation – cont.

• Temperature – concentration – contact time– Verification is necessary to demonstrate

that the cleaning and sterilisation regimewill remove or significantly reduce ACB

• The important areas of the plant need to betargeted and monitored by regular testing

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Testing for ACB• IFU 12, February 2006

This method is gaining wide acceptance asthe method to use

• If another method is in use then it should becompared with IFU 12. There can be BIGdifferences in sensitivity

• A positive control must be performed witheach batch of samples

• Rapid methods have their place but theirsensitivities can be low which can give theuser a false sense of security!

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Issues from Recent Audits of AppleProcessors

• Unacceptable unloading practices “wetunloading”

• Inadequate washing / fluming• Inadequate sorting – in one company none

at all!• Use of untreated evaporator water• No effective ACB testing program• Non proven sanitising regimes• Poor ACB testing methods• Over reliance on specialist ACB filters

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“Wet Unloading ”(Use of Water Jets to Wash Fruit Out of

Delivery Trucks)

“A fruit unloading system and atruck washing facility utilising thesame water”

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Wet Unloading – cont.• How is it possible to avoid contaminating the

fruit with:Diesel residuesAutomotive greasesTyre and break residuesAnything the truck has driven through onits way to the factory??

• “A completely unacceptable way tohandle a foodstuff”

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no

no

yes

no

yes

Equiv.

no

no

ISO9000

Cargill

Cargill

Cargill

IFU 12

IFU 12

IFU 12

IFU 12

InHouse

ACBmethodused

8 hourly

weekly

weekly

weekly

8 hourly

8 hourly

daily

weekly

Flumewaterchange

yesyesTwiceChem.Nonepoordry8

yesnonevernonepoorpoorwet7

yesnosomeChem.OKpoordry6

yesyesoncenopoorpoorwet5

yesyesdailyUVpoorV poordry4

nononevernopoorpoordry3

yesnonevernopoorpoorwet2

yesnonevernopoorpoorwet1

ACBfilters?

Microlabonsite?

Evap.watertested ?

Evap.watertreated?

Fruitsorting

Fruitwashing

Wetordry

8 Polish factories

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ACB Code of Best Practice• Gerber has approached the AIJN to help it

organise the production of a Code of BestPractice for the Control of ACB for the juiceindustry.

• The first meeting of the working group, 30th

Oct• It is hoped to have the document completed

early next year

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Summary• The control of ACB requires a systematic

approach to reduce / eliminate theorganism at

ALL STEPS IN THE PROCESS OFPROVIDING APPLE JUICE FOR THECONSUMER

– Good Manufacturing Practice by the packer ie Gerber Juice !

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Summary cont.

• It cannot be solved just by the installation ofa specialist filter

• The method used to test for ACB must besensitive and reliable

• All the control measures and systems needto be challenged and shown to be effective

• If you don’t look you don’t see!