Tea Quality ~ Testing ~ Inspection ~ Certification ~ Food Safety

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water. Tea is grown on mountain terrains and a specific type of climate and geography which is crucial for tea cultivation. Each tea-producing region in the World provides a different yet perfect climate for its cultivation. Hence, tea from different regions have their uniqueness in taste, texture, colour, form and appearance. This uniqueness in colour, taste, aroma and texture has to be maintained and kept intact, for it to be of marketable quality.

?Tea quality checks are carried out to ensure that its quality is maintained all throughout the process from its cultivation to its packaging, as per the regulations and standards of the market. This is an important requisite to have a good hold over tea trading, including exports to different countries.

Quality Assurance in the Tea Industry: The purity and freshness of Tea depends on the Quality Assurance of the tea producing company. Strict quality checks as per set standards and benchmarks is crucial for gaining customer confidence and to have a good hold in the market. In today’s competitive times, having the most stringent levels of Quality Assurance is a game-changer in the industry.

Quality Assurance is to be ensured by the manufacturer, mainly in three main stages of growing, plucking and processing of tea. The process of Tea Quality Analysis evaluates if there is any contamination during the stages of 3Ps -?Plucking, Processing and Packaging. Tea analysis is done to check for any adulterants that devalues the quality of tea. This ensures there are no health hazards for people consuming it.

FSMS (Food Safety Management System) should be adopted for the purpose of Quality and Hygienic products available for Human consumption.

·??????GMP – Good Manufacturing Practices

·??????GHP – Good Hygienic Practices

·??????HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point

·??????And such other practices as may be specified by regulation, for the food business.

All tea processors carrying out any stage of production, processing and distribution must put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles for the primary production and associated operations. Obligation is on the business operators to maintain the hygiene and ensure that all stages of production, processing and distribution of food are under control.?

Procedures based on the HACCP principles should not only apply to primary production of tea but food hazards present at all the steps of primary production and associated operations should be identified and adequately controlled to ensure the achievement of the objectives of food safety.

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7 Principles of FSMS:

1.????Conduct a Hazard Analysis

2.????Identify the Critical Control Points (CCP)

3.????Determine the Critical Limits

4.????Define Monitoring Procedures

5.????Implement Corrective Actions

6.????Establish Verification Procedures

7.????Create Record Keeping Procedures

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Depending on the severity of the Hazard, skill matrix has to be set up;

·??????CCP – Critical Control Points

·??????PRP – Pre Requisite Programme

·??????OPRP – Operational Pre Requisite Programme

Food Safety Hazard – A food safety hazard refers to?any agent with the potential to cause adverse health consequences for consumers. Food safety hazards occur when food is exposed to hazardous agents which result in contamination of that food.

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·??????Physical – Any foreign object found in the food or a naturally occurring object, that poses a hazard like Glass, Metals, threads, Hair, Nails, Bones etc is called a ‘Physical Contamination’.

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·??????Chemical – Naturally occurring and Process Induced Chemical substances that can cause a food borne illness is called a ‘Chemical Contaminant or Hazard’.

o??Process Induced Chemical Contaminants like – Pesticides, Cleansing products, Equipment lubricants, Chemical Food Additives, Preservatives ?

o??Natural Chemical Contaminants like – Mercury, lead, arsenic, and cadmium?as well as other toxic elements

·??????Biological – Biological hazards are organisms, or substances produced by organisms, that pose a threat to human health like Bacteria, Virus and Parasites. They are a major concern in food processing because they cause most food borne illness outbreaks.

·??????Allergens – Food allergen is a protein that is found in food that is capable of triggering a response in individuals sensitised to it. Food and beverage manufacturers have a responsibility to?identify allergens that are contained in their products and take action to isolate them from other non-allergen products processed in the same facility. Ingredients that contain allergens should be stored separately from non-allergen ingredients. While any food can cause an adverse reaction, there are eight types of foods that account for about 90 percent of all reactions. These include Eggs, Milk, Peanuts, Tree nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Wheat, and Soy.

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?Microbiological Contamination

There are no reported microbiological food safety hazards relating to made tea. However, there are risks in the contamination at the processing stages due to environmental factors or personnel hygiene which is arrested at the drying process. However, tea contains a natural level of micro-organisms but tea has low water activity, where it presents negligible hazard providing that tea is kept dry.

The European Union’s Scientific Committee on Food reviewed the micro-biological risks associated with tea in 1997 and concluded that: Tea has a long history of safe use and the Committee is unaware of any safety problems related to moisture in tea, which may be attributed to its low moisture content (i.e. low water activity) and the high content of anti-microbial substances. Moisture levels up to 10% seem to give an acceptable safety margin for the storage of tea.

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How can we be assured of (FSMS) Food Safety Management System?

1.????Location, Layout and Facilities

2.????Equipment & Containers

3.????Facilities

a.?????Water Supply

b.????Drainage and Waste Disposal

c.?????Personal Facilities and Toilets

d.????Ventilation and Lighting

4.????Cleaning, Sanitation and Maintenance

5.????Pest Control

6.????Control of Operations

a.?????Raw Material

b.????Storage

c.?????Production

d.????Product Packaging

e.?????Food Additives

7.????Transportation, Storage and Distribution

8.????Management and Supervision

9.????Food Testing

10.?Training

11.?Audit

12.?Documentation and Record Keeping

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Tea has a number of parameters for which it is evaluated. In tea quality testing, the tea is analysed in terms of its physical appearance like colour, size, flavour and taste. Also, the other analysis includes testing for any presence of chemicals, heavy metals, toxins and so on. All these tests are done as per set standards by the official body.

When tea is compliant to all the set standards, it is said to be of marketable quality.

Different countries have varied requirements for the quality of tea they import. To understand the necessary tests that have to be performed, one has to go through the export related documents available. As per the export destination, the testing requirement varies over a number of parameters like physical factors, chemical analysis and biological analysis to name a few. When the tea quality meets the quality requirements of the destination country, it is termed to be fit for export.

In order to avoid rejection, tea exporters carry out COA (Certificate of Analysis) or Laboratory tests from NABL accredited lab. These generally cover various parameters like nutrient content, heavy metals, microbial analysis, and residue levels. MRL (Maximum Residue Level) is the key parameter for acceptance or rejection of tea consignment.

Sensory Analysis

It is a scientific method to analyse and understand the aroma, taste, flavour and colour to check for any improvements if required.

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Physical Analysis

·???????The?particle size?is studied to understand the quality.

·???????It also checks for the presence of any?foreign matter?like iron fillings, etc.

·???????The?moisture?content and?water soluble matter?reveals the quality.

·???????The level of Total?Polyphenol?and?Catechin?are tested.

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Microbial Analysis

Microbial testing?is done to check the presence of pathogens and micro-organisms in the tea. The test looks for a presence of yeast, mold, Coliform, E. Coli, Salmonella to name a few. This test gives an indication of the cleanliness of tea.

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Chemical Analysis

·???????Tea includes?chemical residue testing?that involves testing for pesticide residue. Around 800+ pesticide residues are tested to check for any contamination.

·???????Presence of harmful toxins like Aflatoxin and Ochratoxin are also tested in?toxins testing.

It also includes?metal screening, that checks for presence of heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, methyl mercury, copper, tin in tea.

·???????Also, Chemical analysis also measures the factors like moisture content, the amount of water insoluble steam volatile oil, the amount of carbon-free ash and the amount of acid insoluble ash to determine the quality.

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Authenticity and Integrity: Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) testing can be used to verify geographic origin, test the authenticity of ingredients labelled as natural, identify undeclared additives and detect the use of synthetic fertilizers in organic products.?

Compliance of product:

GFSI – Global Food Safety Initiative (The Global Food Safety Initiative is a non-profit association of industry experts committed to improving food safety along the value chain. The GFSI?approves a number of food safety standards covering farming, packaging, storage and distribution.)

BRCGS Global Standards - Brand Reputation through Compliance

FSSC 22000 – Food Safety System Certification

GLOBAL G.A.P. – Good Agricultural Practice

IFS Food – International Featured Standard

SQF – Safe Quality Food

FSSC 22000 – Food Safety System Certification

FSMA - Food Safety Modernisation Act?

The following policies and Management control should be adapted to Provide Safe, Wholesome Food to the Marketplace.

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??Allergen policy and program

??Risk Assessment

??Formulation Control

??Ingredient Management

??Process Controls

??Packaging Management

??Label Control

??Employee Training

THANK YOU!

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Compiled and published by Gaganendra Jha