Plant cleaning, hygiene and effluent treatment

Publisher Summary The keeping quality of yoghurt is governed by a multiplicity of interrelated factors, such as: the hygienic quality of the product, the cleanliness of surfaces coming into contact with the yoghurt, the hygienic manufacture of dairy products, etc. The nature of contaminants from surfaces coming into contact with any food product, including yoghurt, could be physical, chemical or biological. Therefore, contamination from these sources can be minimized by: removal of residues, cleaning and sanitization/sterilization of equipment, storage of equipment under conditions that limit microbial growth/survival, etc. It is important that the processing equipment, including the pipelines, is properly emptied from yoghurt residues before commencing the cleaning program. Recovery of yoghurt and re-use from the process plant increases production yields, reduces the demand for cleaning chemical compounds, and lowers the cost of effluent treatment. The classical approach is to purge water through the installation to recover the yoghurt at the end of production time, but this may lead to the dilution of the product.