EVALUATION OF HAZARD ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS (HACCP) IMPLEMENTATION IN THE SOFT DRINKS INDUSTRY

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) implemented in soft drinks processing line as produced by Fouz Soft Drinks Factory. Critical Control Points (CCPs) were identified in the flow diagram of soft drinks production. The Critical Control Points (CCPs) were included the water abstraction, chlorination, water filtration, water blending, ultraviolet radiation unit, sugar filtration, final syrup preparation, mixing, carbonation, glass bottles washer, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) rinser, empty bottle inspection, labeling, filling, sealing, full bottles/PET inspection and bottles/PET packaging. Also the control measures, critical limits, monitoring procedures and corrective actions for each CCP were identified. To identify some hazards which may be present in the Fouz Soft Drinks Factory products during shelf life period, three soft drink types namely lemon lime, cherry and apricot, were randomly collected from shop that stored them at ambient temperature. All samples were investigated for their microbial load and physio-chemical characteristics after first, third and sixth months during shelf life period and the results were statistically evaluated. The results obtained revealed that the total soluble solids were found to be 13.0, 13.0 and 13.2 Brix in lemon lime, cherry and apricot soft drinks samples during the three storage periods, respectively. The Co2 volume was found to be 4.00, 3.75 and 3.57 volume in lemon lime soft drink during the three storage periods, respectively, whereas it was 2.53, 2.49 and 2.34 volume for cherry soft drink and 2.02, 1.93, 1.88 volume for apricot soft drink during the three storage periods, respectively. The citric acid concentration was found to be 0.14, 0.10 and 0.10% in lemon lime, cherry and apricot soft drink samples after the first, third and sixth months during shelf life periods, respectively. The benzoic acid values of lemon lime, cherry and apricot soft drink samples during the three storage periods were found to be 0.02, 0.01 and 0.01%, respectively. The pH of lemon lime soft drink during the three storage periods was found to be 2.91, 2.85 and 2.84, respectively, while the cherry and apricot soft drinks had pH average values of 3.16, 2.98, 2.90 and 3.35, 3.29, 3.12 during the three storage periods, respectively. Also, the results showed that there were no significant differences (P> 0.05) in total soluble solids (T.S.S), Co2 volume, citric acid and benzoic acid between the three storage periods of the three soft drink types, while the pH of the three soft drink types significantly (P< 0.05) decreased during the shelf life period. Also the results indicated that the copper contents were found to be 0.07, 0.08 and 0.09 mg/l in lemon lime soft drink samples after the first, third and sixth months of production, respectively, whereas for cherry and apricot were found to be 0.06, 0.07 and 0.07 mg/l for both soft drink samples during the three storage periods, respectively. The zinc contents of lemon lime and cherry were found to be 0.02, 0.03 and 0.03 mg/l for both soft drinks samples during the three storage periods, respectively, while the apricot soft drink has zinc values of 0.06, 0.06 and 0.07 mg/l during the three storage periods, respectively. The iron contents were found to be 0.28, 0.31 and 0.34 mg/l in lemon lime soft drink samples during the three storage periods, respectively, whereas they were 0.45, 0.47 and 0.50 mg/l for cherry soft drink and 0.04, 0.06, 0.06 mg/l for apricot soft drink samples during the three storage periods respectively. The lead content was found to be 0.01 mg/l in lemon lime soft drink samples during the three storage periods, while the cherry and apricot soft drinks samples had lead average values of 0.01, 0.01, 0.02 mg/l and 0.03, 0.04 ,0.04 mg/l during the three storage periods, respectively. Also the results revealed that there were no significant differences (P> 0.05) in copper, zinc, iron and lead contents between the three storage periods of the three types of soft drink. The results obtained in this study were found to be in accordance with soft drinks standard specifications. The microbiological analysis of the three soft drinks types revealed absence of coliforms, molds and yeast during the three storage periods. The total bacterial viable count of lemon lime soft drink during the three storage periods were found to be 3.4 x 102, 3.4 x 102 and 3.5 x 102 cfu /ml, respectively. They were almost similar to that of apricot soft drink which were 3.5 x 102, 3.6 x 102 and 3.8 x 102 cfu /ml, respectively and different to that of cherry soft drink which was negligible (9, 1.2 x 102 and 1.5 x 102 cfu /ml, respectively).