Baking & Snack - June 2019 - 26

FOOD SAFETY SERIES

Custards, creams and other
egg- and dairy-based components
of baked goods don't always go
through a kill step and can be a
source of pathogen growth.
©brent Hofacker - stockadobe.com

control and its role in the facility's food safety system."
AIB International collaborated with the American
Bakers Association (ABA) and researchers at Kansas
State University and University of Georgia to create
the Baking Process Kill Step Calculators. According to
AIB International, baked food producers can use these
calculators to increase food safety assurance, comply
with FSMA's regulation for hazard analysis and preventive controls and avoid conducting foundational research, which can cost upwards of $50,000 per product.
Currently, there are 10 calculators for salmonella in different bakery products available including basic round
top cake muffins, crispy cookies, cheesecake, flour tortillas, fruit-filled pastry, hamburger buns, nut muffins, soft
cookies, 100% whole wheat multigrain bread and yeastraised donut.
"There are more than 2,000 bakery products on the
market shelves, and our goal was to develop a standardized methodology that the baking industry could use to
show that the baking process destroys pathogens" said
Rasma Zvaners, vice-president, regulatory and technical
services, ABA. "This methodology, supported by FDA,
allows bakers to rely on an industry-wide approach to
comply with FSMA rather than having to validate their
own products. ABA is the only association to date to
take such action on behalf of its members."
The fruit-filled pastry calculator was the tenth developed by AIB International, and, according to
Dr. Channaiah, fruit-filled pastries are one of the most
popular bakery products in North America and Europe.
"This science-based validation tool's main objective is
to help commercial bakers demonstrate the effectiveness
of an oven to destroy salmonella during fruit-filled pastry manufacturing," Dr. Channaiah said. The fruit-filled

26 Baking & Snack June 2019 / www.bakingandsnack.com

pastry kill step validation calculator, generated from
salmonella-inoculated laboratory studies, uses time and
internal product temperature readings to calculate a predicted total process lethality for salmonella.
FSMA requires food manufacturers to establish and
implement a food safety system using hazard analysis
and risk-based preventive controls. HARPC requires
validation and verification of all preventive controls that
are critical processing steps for food safety by obtaining
and evaluating scientific and technical evidence to determine whether the preventive controls. When properly
implemented, these safety measures will effectively control the hazards that are reasonably likely to occur.
According to Dr. Ceylan, process validation studies can
be conducted in a laboratory setting using the pertinent
pathogens in the product. The laboratory process requires
either installing the actual equipment or simulating the
process parameters in the laboratory. Some processing
conditions cannot be mimicked due to their complexity.
"Whole genome sequencing and advanced detection
methods are also making it easier than ever to trace even
rare human illnesses back to unlikely food sources. All
of this has highlighted the need for the food industry to
step up its game and spot food safety risks before they
have a chance to hurt consumers," Ms. Sorscher said.
In addition to farm-to-fork food safety management strategies, technology advances will also contribute to minimizing outbreaks caused by pathogens
in bakery products.

Editor's Note: This is the second installment of a fourpart food safety series. Future articles will discuss crosscontamination inside and outside the plant, and allergens
and sanitation.

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Baking & Snack - June 2019

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