Food Protection Trends - July/August 2017 - 269

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE

John DeBeer,1* Fred Nolte,2
Christopher W. Lord,3
James Colton4 and Javier Colley5

Food Protection Trends, Vol 37, No. 4, p. 269-288
Copyright© 2017, International Association for Food Protection
6200 Aurora Ave., Suite 200W, Des Moines, IA 50322-2864

Chicken of the Sea International, Suite 500, 9330
Scranton Road, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
Principal at Fred Nolte Consulting, 2503 West 5th Ave.,
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6K 1S9
3
Principal at Pro-Tech International Consultants Co. Ltd.,
Sethiwan Residence 6A, 85 Sukhumvit 13, Klongtoey
Nua, Wattana, Bangkok, Thailand
4
Aerojet Rocketdyne, 8900 De Soto Ave., Canoga Park,
CA 91304, USA
5
COS Georgia Canning, COS Georgia Canning, 129 North
Commerce Drive, Lyons, GA 30436, USA
1*

2

Sampling Plans to Determine the Minimum Core
Temperature Reached during the Precooking of Tuna
ABSTRACT
This paper presents acceptance sampling plans
that use existing statistical principles to ensure that
the minimum core temperature can be used as a
Critical Limit (CL) for a Critical Control Point (CCP)
for precooking tuna. This strategy will ensure a 5
log10 reduction of the histamine-forming bacterium
Morganella morganii and control the associated
risk of histamine formation in tuna during the
time needed for further processing and prior to
retorting. Core temperatures of precooked tuna of
different sized fish were gathered from industrial
production for validation. The lower limit of the
core temperature of the batch was calculated as:
sample average - (3 times the standard deviation).
For variable sampling plans, a sample size of
23 provided a 90% confidence level, with 99%
percent acceptable, while a sample size of 35
provided a 95% confidence level, with 99% percent
acceptable. Sample sizes are given for attribute
sampling plans as well. The subsequent tables and
sampling plans provided will allow tuna processors

to develop HACCP plans to monitor CLs for a CCP
for precooked tuna core temperature and allow
for a significantly longer period of time in which to
process tuna of any size after precooking.

INTRODUCTION
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to: (a) develop risk-based
sampling plans for monitoring tuna core temperature Critical
Limits (CLs) for a commercial tuna precooking Critical
Control Points (CCP) and (b) describe suitable practical
monitoring practices for this processing step. This strategy
involves sampling core temperatures of precooked tuna and
measuring holding times to confirm that all the fish in the
batch are heated sufficiently to control histamine formation
during tuna processing. In this manuscript, the CL is defined
as the minimum individual core temperature in a batch of
precooked fish. The math and logic will be developed to
predict the lowest temperature from a sample by calculating
the [average core temperatures - (3 times the standard
deviation)] of a normally distributed and representative
sample of core temperatures. This strategy provides a robust

*Corresponding author: Phone: +1 858.597.4211; Fax: +1 858.362.9211; E-mail: john.debeer@thaiunion.com

July/August Food Protection Trends

269
http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/jul-aug-17-debeer.pdf http://www.foodprotection.org/files/food-protection-trends/jul-aug-17-debeer.pdf
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - July/August 2017
