Update of the microbiological guideline and warning values of the DGHM

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Jun 25, 2018 - Foods

Update of the microbiological guideline and warning values of the DGHM

The DGHM working group "Microbiological guidelines and warning values for food" passed new recommendations and drafts for the assessment of microbiological results of food at the last meeting in March 2018 at the University in Lemgo.

These DGHM recommendations are published at www.dghm-richt-warnwerte.de. They are available for a fee. The new drafts are freely accessible at www.dghm.org.

Below is a summary of the latest update from March 2018.

New or updated recommendations for:

• Cured raw meat products:
  updated recommendation, but with no substantive changes compared to previous recommendations
• Dried herbs and spices:
  updated recommendation, instead of the parameter "spores of sulfite-reducing clostridia," Clostridium perfringens has been included in the recommendation. Otherwise no changes
• Frozen, fully baked fine pastries with and without filling, raw/partially baked frozen baked goods, frozen patisserie items with unbaked filling:
  Updated recommendations, but with no substantive changes compared to previous recommendations
• Fully baked frozen baked goods:
  Updated recommendation with Enterobacteriaceae as an additional parameter, otherwise no substantive changes
• Mayonnaise, dressings, salad sauces:
  New recommendations for this product group
  Notes on applying these values: These values are particularly suitable for application to handcrafted mayonnaise, dressings, and salad sauces with short shelf life. For pre-packaged products with a longer shelf life, generally lower microbial counts are required to ensure the product remains stable and does not spoil until the end of the expiration date

New drafts exist for

• Boiled sausage, cooked sausage, cooked cured products, as well as aspics and jellied products
  The criteria should be checked for relevance. The parameter "spores of sulfite-reducing clostridia" should be replaced with Clostridium perfringens.
• Sandwiches, filled rolls
  The criteria should be checked for relevance

Paul Andrei from BAV Institute is a member of this DGHM working group. We can provide you with up-to-date and competent advice on these issues at any time.

Our customer advisors are happy to assist you with any questions.