Microbiological Risks Related with Raw Materials in Halva Production and Detection of Microbiological Critical Control Points

A few studies in the literature reported that infections were developed due to the consumption of some halva products exported from Turkey. In this respect, this research aims to monitor and evaluate the microbiological risks originating from raw material in tahini halva production unit of a food company implementing ISO 22000. For this purpose, 12 different samples were taken from different sampling points in halva production processes and analyses have been performed. Results evaluated according to the decision tree method indicated that Salmonella spp. was present in sesame, and pistachio was unsuitable in terms of mould and yeast load. Sesame Roasting and Viscous Cooking steps were defined as critical control points as the temperature-time based treatments in these steps eliminate the microbiological risks arising from raw-materials. Furthermore, cocoa powder and pistachio raw-materials input validation operations were also defined as critical control points