Procedures guidelines procedures for production of UHT chocolate milk beverage

Procedures & Guidelines Procedures for Production of UHT Chocolate Milk Beverage FSQ-588015-0101... Procedures & Guid elines Procedures for the Production of UHT Chocolate Milk Beverage

Procedures & Guidelines

Procedures for Production of UHT Chocolate Milk Beverage

FSQ-588015-0101

1 Introduction 2

2 Raw Material 2

2.1 Impact of the raw material on the quality of the final product 2

2.2 Guide for Thermoresistant Spore count 3

3 Processing 3

3.1 Ingredient blend 3

3.2 Pre-treatment 3

3.3 Heat treatment 4

3.4 Flowchart 5

Procedures & Guid elines

Procedures for the Production of UHT Chocolate Milk Beverages

1 Introduction

With the exception of milk powders several other dry ingredients are used in the production of chocolate milk or milk-based chocolate beverage such as:

Cocoa Powder

Whey Powder

Sugar

Stabilizer

Raw materials can have high loads of bacteria in dormant state called spores These spores do not show metabolic activity and they survive highly unfavourable environmental conditions, such as heat, dehydration, cold, poisonous substances and radiation

If thermoresistant spores survive the UHT process they can germinate into vegetative cells and begin to grow, causing spoilage of the final product

This document describes/provides…:

• how to efficiently rehydrate dry ingredients in order to maximise/optimise heat

penetration during processing

• the pre-treatment process, which will minimise the risk of bacterial growth,

• the normal range of parameters used,

• a typical flowchart for easy reference,

…in order to reduce the spore load during processing of chocolate milk or milk-based

chocolate drinks

2 Raw Material

2.1 Impact of the raw material on the quality of the final product

The objective of the UHT processing is to achieve commercial sterility

The efficiency of the UHT process depends on:

• Initial load of bacterial spores

• Thermal resistance of bacterial spores present

• Process parameters: time and temperature to which the microorganisms are exposed during the UHT process

The efficiency of the UHT processing is expressed as the number of decimal reductions of thermoresistant spores Therefore an acceptable level of defects should be established to rate the quality of the final product The maximum acceptable defect rate for such products varies from 1:1000 to 1:10000, i.e one defect (process survivor) in 1000 or in 10000 units produced

2.2 Guide for Thermoresistant Spore count

As the raw material plays a very important role in the maximum rate of defects in the final product, the quality of all raw materials should be guaranteed regarding the load of mesophilic and thermophilic spores However it should be pointed out tha t even sporeformers with a lower heat resistance can be problematic in processing conditions where there is no adequate mixing and soaking during the pre-processing phase Therefore the figures given in the table below can only be seen as a very rough indication of what should be recommended in terms

of spore load based on a 9 log reduction during processing:

Guide for Thermoresistant Spore count in UHT processing*

(Sample taken from balance tank of sterilizer)

limit Mesophilic Spores 100 cfu/ml 1000 cfu/ml 10000 cfu/ml Thermophilic

Spores

10 cfu/ml 100 cfu/ml 1000 cfu/ml

It is also recommend that the peel content of the powder cocoa is minimised, max1.75% and thinness, 99.5% (80 mesh)

bacteria”

Note: Standard procedures may be difficult to apply when it comes to sampling preparation techniques for chocolate powder with e.g hydrocolloid ingredients The preparation of

documentation about this issue is ongoing Please consult Dr Fritz Lembke; Tetra Pak R&D in Stuttgart for further details

3 Processing

Chocolate milk beverage processing usually involves three stages The first stage is blending the ingredients, followed by correct preparation of the product for the last stage – the UHT treatment The quality of the final product depends on the correct fulfillment of those stages

3.1 Ingredient blend

Some stabilizers may be difficult to dissolve Therefore, a high temperature, above 60°C is necessary, and a lot of agitation to avoid sedimentation Some stabilizers can achieve good dispersion even under cold conditions as shown in the flowcharts

3.2 Pre-treatment

As the cocoa powder consists of fine particle agglomerate around the cocoa butter present in

Procedures & Guid elines

Procedures for the Production of UHT Chocolate Milk Beverages

3.3 Heat treatment

The heat treatments applied to long life products aim to achieve commercial sterility by using different combinations of process temperature and holding time The combination of those variables (temperature x time) determines the intensity of the treatment

Concerning products with high spore loads, the treatment should be stricter than the one normally used for milk processing Parameters normally used for the processing of chocolate products are around 137 -142°C for 4 to 6 seconds, but the most appropriate combination depends on the plant configuration

3.4 Flowchart

A typical flowchart for chocolate milk production

If the powder cocoa has particles, sift it through a 80 mesh sieve

Prepare the slurry by use of 10 - 40

% of water or milk of about 50 -

55 °C and process it in the mixing

equipment with the chocolate powder and largest part of sugar

Heat the slurry to 80-95ºC for10-30

minutes under agitation

Add all the mixes to the blending

tank under agitation

UHT treatment With homogenization

Aseptic filling

Option : Maturation Cool down and store for 2-12 hours at 4 – 6°C (shorter times for liquid products and longer ones for powder products) Use low agitation speed during this step

Weigh the ingredients according to

the formulation

Filtration Use double filter, 180 – 200 mesh

= 75 micron

Prepare all other

ingredients

(water, powders, fat)

Pasteurize and Homogenize the

batch

Drymix part of the sugar with the stabilizer