Webinar: Is your Product an Acidified Food? Understanding the FDA Regulations
This webinar aims toward detailing the issue of high acid products, assisting with the categorization of these products, and providing strategies for managing products that fall under the acidified food category but do not receive a full thermal process.
FDA regulations (21CFR114.3) define acidified foods as “low acid foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added…They have a water activity greater than 0.85 and have a finished pH of 4.6 or below”. The regulations require that these products be thermally processed. Furthermore, the thermal process must be filed with the US FDA prior to the initiation of commercial production (21CFR108.25). Hence, it is important for food processors to determine if their formulated products fall under this category prior to initiating commercial production. Unfortunately, this determination is not always straightforward.
The above-cited legal definition clearly excludes high acid products that are naturally acidic such as tomato-based sauces and acidic fruit juices (e.g., citrus juices). However, the regulation cites an additional exclusion for products that “contain a small amount of low-acid food(s) and have a resultant finished equilibrium pH that does not significantly differ from that of the predominant acid or acid food and foods that are retailed under refrigeration”. The initial portion of the above statement has been the source of much confusion and debate as to the proper categorization of many high acid products.
What you will learn during the presentation:
- A better understanding of acidified foods
- Clarification for the proper categorization of high acid products
- Strategies for guiding products that fall under the acidified food category
Original airdate: Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Length: 45 minutes
Presenters:
Martha Kimber M.S., Research Microbiologist, Advanced Micro Group
Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories
Wilfredo Ocasio, Ph.D., Senior Director, Advanced Food Micro Group Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories
