UNIVERSITI PENDIDIKAN SULTAN IDRISSEMESTER 1 SESI 2011/2012

SBK3023FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION

TITLE

GROUP: A

LECTURER NAMEDR. HASIMAH BINTI ALIMON

GROUP MEMBERSNAME ID NO.

NUR SAHRIZAN BINTI SERMAN D20091035075

NOOR HAFIZAH BINTI NASIR D20091035083

SANDRA MERU D20091035087

NOR IZATI BINTI MAT YUSOFF D20091035136

SITI NURUL SHAHIDA BINTI MOHD ABD HADI D20091035137

TRIP TO VITAGEN

Introduction

Vitagen is one of the cultured milk drinks in Malaysia. It is made by fermenting skim milk

with billions of live probiotic cultures, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei

which is specially imported from the Chr. Hansen Laboratory in Denmark, a world leading

cultures laboratory that supplies high quality probiotics worldwide. These probiotic cultures

help the body suppress the growth of harmful bacteria to promote good digestion and

therefore stimulate a strong immune system. They can withstand bile and acidic stomach

juices and reach the intestines alive to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria. They also

remove toxins and waste from the body. In order to make sure that the products are safe,

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) programs, which is a food safety

program is applied. It is used to identify potential food safety hazards, so that key actions can

be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk of the hazards being realized. This system is used at

all stages of food production and preparation processes including the procurement and

handling, manufacturing, packaging and distribution of the final products. From the visit to

Vitagen factory we can see on how the product is produce and investigate on the safety to

drink it.

How are you going to ensure that the product is safe?

Vitagen is a cultured milk drink made by fermenting skim milk with billions of live

probiotic cultures which is good bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei to

help maintain a healthy digestive system. These probiotic cultures are specially imported from

Chr. Hansen Laboratory in Denmark, a world leading cultures laboratory supplying high

quality probiotics worldwide. Probiotic cultures in Vitagen can withstand bile and acidic

stomach juices and reach the intestines alive to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in the

intestines. With the presence of these probiotic cultures, the environment in the colonic flora

becomes unsuitable for harmful bacteria to grow. They also remove toxins and waste from our

body. The longer waste matter remains in the lower intestines, the higher the chances of

intestinal distress and possible cancer when carcinogens attack normal cells.

For vitagen, we ensure that the product is safe as it has no preservative, fat-free,

contain high fibre, live probiotics and vitamin C. Live probiotic cultures help to maintain a

healthy digestive system and prebiotic fibre help in support the growth of good bacteria in the

intestines. Other than that, vitagen is considered as safe product as it have expired date to

refer on, the aluminium cover is seal tightly, the bottle is not dents and it also contain

nutritional facts.

During our visit to Vitagen, we know that it has the Halal Certification from JAKIM,

certification from the Internal Organization of Standardization (ISO 9001) and also the

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP). A product that get the Halal certificate

from JAKIM (Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia) is considered as Halal and Muslim can

consume the product without suspicion. According to the Vitagen representative during our

visit to the Vitagen factory, JAKIM will observe them every six months to make sure that the

Vitagen Cultured Milk Drink produced is halal. Halal is not only in the terms of substances

uses to make the cultured milk drink. She said that every equipment and machines that they

used also has the bench mark so that the drink produce is halal. As for example, the collagen

that they used in Vitagen Collagen also is certified as halal and it comes from a source thet is

reliable. So, muslim can drink Vitagen Cultured Milk without suspicious. Besides that,

Vitagen has the ISO 9001 certificates standards relates to quality management systems and is

designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other

stakeholders. There are requirements in the ISO 9001 that should be fulfilled in order to

obtain the ISO certificates. Vitagen also has the HACCP certificates to ensure that the product

is safe because HACCP  is a systematic preventive approach to food safety and

pharmaceutical safety that addresses physical, chemical, and biological hazards as a means of

prevention rather than finished product inspection. In addition, the laboratory is staffed by the

finest technical personnel who are constantly in pursuit of innovative new products and also a

specialized Quality Control unit keeps a daily check on products through regular testing at

every stage of manufacturing to ensure conformity with the highest international standards.

How to determine a product achieves the HACCP standard requirements?

Based on the seven principles of HACCP, determine the requirements needed for the

product is safe for consumers.

Principle 1: Conduct a hazard analysis.

The first principle that is conduct a hazard analysis is plans on determine the food safety

hazards and identify the preventive measures the plan can apply to control these hazards. A

food safety hazard is any biological, chemical, or physical property that may cause a food to

be unsafe for human consumption. For vitagen product, the hazard that maybe occur are

expired product, storage, type of packaging, pH of product, microbe content. Thus, to prevent

them to occur, vitagen product had made:

expired date on the pack of vitagen product

clarify that vitagen product can only be left in room temperature for not more than 2 to

3 hours before putting back in the fridge and can be stored for 7 weeks if stored

properly at 4oC and below

the packaging is seal tightly using aluminium cap seal which using induction heating

preventing hazard enter and contaminate it

pH is not too acidic that can cause harm for human stomach

not contain harmful bacteria but contain only good bacteria for human. Harmful

bacteria can cause foodborne illness.

Principle 2: Identify critical control points. 

A critical control point (CCP) is a point, step, or procedure in a food manufacturing process at

which control can be applied and, as a result, a food safety hazard can be prevented,

eliminated, or reduced to an acceptable level.

Process in production of vitagen are:

From the process, the critical point that are identify are:

microbe content that is Lactobacillus sp. (Lactobacillus acidophilus and

Lactobacillus casei). It beneficial bacteria that exerting health benefits in our digestive

system, especially the bowel and colon.

chemical composition that is pH and sweetness

temperature control

physical characteristic that is aluminium cap seal

organoleptic evaluation that is taste and flavour

Principle 3: Establish critical limits for each critical control point.

A critical limit is the maximum or minimum value to which a physical, biological, or

chemical hazard must be controlled at a critical control point to prevent, eliminate, or reduce

to an acceptable level.

skimmed milk produce

pasteurization

cooled

fermentation

chilled

added fruit juice

packaging

storage tank

mixing

stabilizer

homogenization

The critical limit for vitagen product are:

microbe content of only one bacteria that is Lactobacilli bacteria and no harmful

bacteria. In one bottle of vitagen contain billions of Lactobacilli bacteria.

pH is slightly more acidic level altered by active Lactobacilli bacteria producing high

levels of lactic acid. The presence of this and other acids inhibit the growth of

undesirable bacteria, moulds, mould spores and yeast. Sweetness which is from

glucoese in vitagen product must enough for feeding of billions of Lactobacilli

bacteria in a bottle of vitagen.

temperature for pasteurisation is around 85oC to 90oC for about 30 minutes to reduce

the number of viable pathogens so they are unlikely to cause disease. Then, it is cooled

to 37oC which is optimum temperature for Lactobacilli bacteria to active for

fermentation.

aluminium cap seal must seal tightly with no hole and preventing entrace of harmful

bacteria that can contaminate it.

taste and flavour was put in five flavours that are LB (original), grape, apple,

pineapple and orange. Vitagen also produce vitagen less sugar product with for

flavours that are LB (original), grape, apple and peach. The latest product of vitagen is

vitagen collagen less sugar with three flavours that are LB (original), rose and

elderflower. This flavour is put in medium just to make vitagen product more

delicious.

Principle 4: Establish critical control point monitoring requirements. 

Monitoring is a planned sequence of observations or measurements to assess whether

the critical control point is under control and to produce an accurate record for future use in

verification. Vitagen also had established their way of monitoring the critical control points.

They have a department that is called the Specialized Quality Control that are responsible

responsible to keep a daily check on products through regular testing at every stage of

manufacturing to ensure conformity with the highest international standards. They applied

the HACCP by monitoring the critical control points in the process where the good bacteria is

inoculated and fermented in fresh non-fat milk solid that is left to ferment for 60 hours.

Besides that, Vitagen also monitors the amount of good bacteria, which is the Lactobacillus

which is one of the main components in Vitagen cultured milk drink. The amount of good

bacteria is controlled where it has it minimum and also maximum value of bacteria in each

bottle of the drink. Besides that, Vitagen also monitored the temperature and times to heat the

full milk before it is mixed with the good bacteria. The full milk is only heated at 85oC to

90oC for 30 to 40 minutes to destroy the microbial that might have infected the milk. And the

milk is cooled to another specific temperature that is suitable temperature for the good

bacteria culture to grow. Vitagen, which is the first company in Malaysia that produced

cultured milk drink surely has their own monitoring procedures for each of this critical control

points. But the monitoring will go more smoothly if they clearly train the employees for

monitoring the critical control points in testing procedures, the critical limits established, the

methods of recording the test results and actions to be taken when the critical limits are not

met.

Principle 5: Establish corrective actions.

Establish corrective measures are the actions that must be taken when monitoring

process indicates a deviation from established critical limits. In a simple word, establish a

corrective action is the procedure that needs to be taken if deviation occurs. Deviation here

refers to failure to meet the critical limit of the critical control points. As for example, one of

the critical control point in production Vitagen cultured milk drink is to control the amount of

good bacteria inside the drink. They have their minimum and maximum value for the bacteria

and if the numbers is not met which means that the amount of bacteria is below the minimum

value, Vitagen will take actions to correct this problem before the drink is distributed to the

public. Another example is that Vitagen critical control point on heating the full milk for

specific time to destroy microbial that might have infected the milk. The range of heating is

around 85oC to 90oC for 30 to 40 minutes. If the temperature use to heat the full milk is too

low, it might cause the microbial not fully destroyed and if the temperature is too high, there

are also possibilities that it will damage the nutrients inside the milk. So, if the preparation of

the full milk did not met with these criteria, Vitagen will take action whether to destroy or

there will be other options to repair the condition. The department that is responsible in

monitoring and takes action towards this kind of problem is the Specialized Quality Control

units that are responsible to keep a daily check on products through regular testing at every

stage of manufacturing to ensure conformity with the highest international standards.

Principle 6: Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as

intended.

Principle 6 consists of procedures for verification. Verification and auditing methods,

procedures and tests, including random sampling and analysis, can be used to determine if the

HACCP system is working correctly. The frequency of verification should be sufficient to

confirm that the HACCP system is working effectively. Validation ensures that the plants do

what they were designed to do that is, they are successful in ensuring the production of a safe

product. Where possible, validation activities should include actions to confirm the efficacy of

all elements of the HACCP plan. These procedures can include calibration of thermometers

used in monitoring and microbial analysis and of the product. The temperature of the mixture

should be heated at certain temperature before being cool down. For microbial analysis, it is

used to make sure that only Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei bacteria are

present in each bottles of Vitagen. Besides that, the pipelines used for transferring the cultured

milk from the mixture machine are washed every week to keep the cleanliness of the pipe.

Principle 7: Establish record keeping procedures.

Under this principle, records must be kept of all procedures including the hazards

analysis, justification for decision, identification of Control Critical Points within the flow

diagram, monitoring records, corrective action records, verification records and other

documentation.

Conclusion

In the nutshell, it is important to control the quality of the products to ensure conformity with

the highest international standards and safe for the consumers. For us, vitagen product is meet

the requirement of HACCP and safe to drink. There are a lot of benefits of drinking vitagen

which the most important is preventing digestive disorders can lead to numerous problems

that may affect the rest of the body.