 
Cleaning dry environments - industry survey A recently completed industry survey into the regimes used in the cleaning of dry food processing environments will enable the foundations to be laid for defining and formulating best practice guidelines in this area. This will enable all of the industry to effectively and safely clean areas in which dry foods are handled and processed. In the survey, the types of areas covered included: how companies clean dry-ingredient environments; how they cope with the special problems these environments pose; how they tackle moisture absorption by ingredients; and how they prevent the formation of dust clouds. The results of the survey were used to determine what areas particularly needed further research. Work is focussing initially on equipment, specifically its hygienic design and enabling processors to choose the appropriate piece of equipment for each cleaning operation. To support this, we are also carrying out research comparing the various cleaning methods employed. The findings of the initial survey are presented and discussed in "Review of current cleaning practices and contamination controls in the dry goods industries" (Review No. 30), and a guidelines document on best practice is planned for 2003.
Contact: Karen Middleton Rapid bacterial identification 
The RiboPrinter™ service at CCFRA is now in its eighth year of use and is still at the forefront of molecular methods for routine use in analytical and research projects involving bacteria. This technology enables CCFRA to give timely, definitive bacterial identification and tracing of contamination to meet the increasing needs of its clients. The fingerprinting procedure is rapid, taking only 8 hours to obtain a result from a single bacterial colony, completely automated and produces highly reproducible results. Jon Bird of the Microbiology Department explains: "The RiboPrinter plays a key role in the fast and accurate detection of contamination routes and one of the ways we can use this technology to assist clients is by pinpointing the source of bacterial food contamination. For example, a company was assisted with a problem involving the discovery of Staphylococcus in ready-to-eat foods. Conventional tests showed Staphylococcus epidermidis to be the infective organism, which proved to be present in many areas of the production site involved. This would potentially require the whole site to be cleaned and sanitised. This is where the effectiveness of the RiboPrinter becomes apparent. Using RiboPrinter technology, all of the isolates were typed to view the RiboGroup. Only one isolate yielded a pattern that matched those from the contaminated product. The source was identified as the hands of one of the plant employees. Consequently, simple and effective personal hygiene measures were implemented to remove the infective route, avoiding costly closure of the site and a reduction in factory output.& This technology helps enable us to investigate bacterial food spoilage issues or contamination with pathogens, to assess the effectiveness of sanitation programmes, to authenticate starter cultures, and to resolve customer/supplier disputes on behalf of our clients and members. In addition, it provides a powerful tool for investigating microbial ecology in general and has been invaluable in confidential and public domain research at CCFRA. Jon Bird +44(0)1386 842107
Investigation of taints and off-flavours 
The flavour of a food is a combination of taste and odourthat reflects its complex chemical composition. A taint oroff-flavour is usually perceived as an unacceptable change tothe flavour of a food, caused by a change in its chemicalcomposition. This may be due to intrinsic enzymic action inthe food, or extrinsic microbiological or chemical contamination. Whatever the cause, the changes and offending chemicals can be analysed chemically or by using trained sensory assessors to describe the taint. CCFRA has the multidisciplinary expertise, facilities and experience to carry out these analyses and to assist companies to rapidly investigate and resolve taint problems. To discuss your requirements for taint investigation or if you require general information on taints and off-flavours....
Contact: James Williams (Tel: +44 (0)1386 842022) Guide to food chemical composition The latest in CCFRA's Key Topics series of short books illustrates how food composition is a highly important aspect of industry's relationship with consumers and how it influences many aspects of food manufacturing from product development through safety assurance and traceablility to product labelling. Published in collaboration with the Royal Society ofChemistry, Food chemical composition: dietary significancein food manufacturing assumes no expertise in food chemistry and its strong industrial slant makes it different from other books on the subject. By drawing on examples from manufacturing it covers points that often get overlooked in discussions of chemicals natural to foods or used in preservation and processing. It clearly explains jargon-laden areas such as the different types of fat and approaches to measuring dietary fibre and outlines non-nutrient components such as flavours, colours and natural toxicants. It illustrates special dietary needs through examples such as coeliac disease, lactose intolerance, diabetes and allergies, though it is primarily about food composition, not nutrition, and so does not attempt to deal with health issues such as obesity and high blood pressure. Priced at £21.50 per copy.
Contacts: Publications sales: Carol Newman Guest of honour at the World Food Process Exhibition CCFRA will be the Guest of Honour at the Innovation and Research Forum of the IPA World Food Process Exhibition between 18-22 November 2002 in Paris, France. As part of the event, CCFRA will present a number of its successful innovations including:
Contact: Bertrand Emond Microbiology conferences a great success Two recent conferences held at CCFRA proved to be great successes. The 'Hot Topics in Microbiology' event, which was held on 5-6 September and was sponsored by bioMérieux, covered a broad range of topics related to microbial food pathogens and allied subjects, from Clostridium botulinum, Bacillus species and Escherichia coli to blue-green microorganisms and mycotoxins. There were also presentations on microbial control in foodstuffs and mechanisms of detecting and tracing contamination, as well as a complete half-day session dedicated to matters pertaining to BSE and CJD, and foot-and-mouth disease. Expert speakers came from several UK Universities, as well as the US Department of Agriculture, the Swedish Food Research Institute (SIK), DEFRA, the Royal Veterinary College, the Public Health Laboratory Service and Unilever in the Netherlands. The conference included an evening dinner at which a lecture was given by Ned Kingcott of the Food Standards Agency. As part of the newly constituted 'Washing and Decontamination of Fresh Produce' Forum, an introductory seminar looked at the broad issues of concern. Presentations looked at agricultural and microbiological issues, and different approaches to washing, and there were papers dealing specifically with viruses, and the internalisation of micro-organisms in fruits and vegetables.
Contact for Fresh Produce Forum: Charmaine Mitchell Discounts on CCFRA publications Significant discounts are available on purchases of multiple copies of most CCFRA publications. This means that companies wishing to use a particular publication in support of training activities or to hold copies of the same publication at different sites can make significant savings. Like all publications, CCFRA's documents are protected by copyright law - so photocopying them for distribution without permission not only creates poor quality copies but is illegal. The new discount system is designed to provide companies with cost-effective access to multiple copies of high-quality, professionally printed documents for their own use. The arrangement covers all CCFRA guidelines, technical manuals, reviews and key topics but, for contractual reasons, does not include those we distribute for other publishers or organisations. Further information or specific quotations, please contact the publications office.
Contact: Mrs. Carol Newman, CCFRA Food law guide CCFRA publishes a quick reference source on UK food law with reference to relevant codes of practice and LACORS opinions. Every company needs to be aware of its legal responsibilities, and identifying and keeping abreast of the relevant developments in food law can take considerable time and effort. UK Food Law Notes is designed to provide food and allied businesses with a single clear source of information on key areas of UK food law. Published as a loose-leaf manual, updates are distributed 2-3 times per year on a subscription basis, to allow for the inevitable changes in food legislation. In addition to summaries of the major pieces of legislation, the manual contains specific sections on labelling, additives, contaminants, and hygiene and covers sectoral interests ranging from bread and cereals products through preserves, fruit juices, honey and coffee to dairy, meat and fish products. The manual is priced at £125 for members, which includes 1 year's subscription to the updates.
Technical contact: John Hammond, CCFRA |