Safety and Quality in Juice Processing: Validating Non-Thermal Processes

Small food producers, play an important role in providing locally sourced products and supporting the economy. However, they often face food safety challenges and struggle to implement food safety practices which can hinder their ability to comply with state or federal regulations. This is especially true for juice and beverage producers, who must navigate complex safety standards while ensuring product safety and quality. To tackle these challenges, many small juice and beverage producers are looking into new processing methods like High-Pressure Processing (HPP) and Ultraviolet (UV) treatment. These non-thermal processes offer promising solutions but require proper validation and challenge studies to ensure microbial safety and regulatory compliance. Therefore, the Cornell Microbial Food Safety Extension and Outreach Program conducted a survey to identify knowledge gaps and training opportunities among juice and beverage producers. This webinar is a direct outcome of that project and builds on our ongoing efforts to support small-scale beverage producers by providing insights into conducting challenge studies, validating food safety measures, and understanding regulatory requirements.

Learning Objectives: 
• Understand the purpose and methodology of challenge studies for microbial validation. 
• Learn how to validate and optimize food safety measures for non-thermal processing methods (HPP and UV) and microbial control. 
• Gain an overview of regulatory requirements for juice and beverage production safety.

Join us for an informative 1-hour session designed to help small-scale producers in understating key factors at play in beverage and juice products.