Verificación del sistema de control de calidad microbiológica en la cadena de producción de Lácteos El Pomar.

Abstract

Milk is an invaluable food due to its content of essential nutrients, indispensable for the formation and maintenance of the mammalian organism. However, this same characteristic makes it highly susceptible to the growth of microorganisms; therefore, the general objective of this work was to verify the microbiological quality control system in the El Pomar dairy production chain. To achieve this, secondary objectives were established, ranging from the analysis of raw materials to the determination of the microbiological compliance of the finished product and the comparison between two methods that are specific for the determination of E. coli, which are used for the analysis of finished products. The methodology applied for the verification of the microbiological analyses was carried out by means of surface and deep sowing of the different products and the type of analysis, which were organized as follows: raw materials such as pulps, sugar, stabilizers, packaging, among others. Analysis of in-process and finished products. Environmental monitoring such as water analysis, swabs from handlers and environmental measurements for mesophilic aerobes, molds and yeasts. For the comparison of the two methods of identification of E. coli in derivatives as a finished product, three references of this product were used, where each one has a different composition, milk drink, semi-skimmed yogurt and complete yogurt, the product was contaminated with a specific concentration and was seeded in the two methods, one by depth for VRBL and the other in the Petrifilm EC plate. The results obtained were highly satisfactory, from the raw material to the finished product, the counts showed that they are within the range according to the product, this causes a report of compliance with Colombian regulations and, therefore, the products are microbiologically suitable. As for the comparative, it was determined that the Petrifilm EC method has a slightly better capacity to recover the concentration of the E. coli microorganism and a very clear differentiating capacity in morphology than the traditional VRBL method, therefore, the Petrifilm EC is the perfect replacement for the traditional method. It was concluded that the quality control analysis carried out in the plant is ideal, since it ensures high quality products by applying new microbiological analysis methods to obtain more reliable results and by the thorough microbiological analyses that go from the ingredients used for the preparation of the products to the finished product, and also by the correct application of corrective measures in the event of a novelty or alteration in the production process.