"Laotan Sauerkraut Production Quality and Safety Control and Management Technical Specifications...

The Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology recently issued the group standard "Laotan Sauerkraut Production Quality and Safety Control and Management Technical Specifications", filling the industry gap
of Laotan sauerkraut food standards and specifications.

It is reported that the "3•15" evening party in 2022 exposed the phenomenon of "dirty and messy" in the production of sauerkraut and Laotan sauerkraut by some illegal enterprises, exposing the weak food safety awareness of some employees and the serious lack of quality management of sauerkraut production
.
At the same time, Laotan sauerkraut still has the problem of unclear definition, some enterprises arbitrarily label ordinary sauerkraut as Laotan sauerkraut, and it is urgent to formulate specifications for the production quality management of Laotan sauerkraut, improve the level of industry management, and rebuild consumers' confidence
in Laotan sauerkraut.

The standard stipulates that Laotan sauerkraut is a vegetable product
made by fermenting mustard greens for fresh leaves or mustard greens for leaves after initial salting fermentation as the main raw material, with or without adding auxiliary materials, old mother water (sauerkraut mother liquor) or lactic acid bacteria, and fermented by traditional ceramic altar bubbles.
Among them, the old altar refers to the traditional ceramic altar with high-quality clay or kaolin as the main raw material, made by traditional ceramic technology, glazed on the outer wall, unglazed on the inner wall, sealed on the outside, small belly with a small neck, with an altar edge designed for water sealing, the whole altar body without cracks, sand choma bubble fermentation container
.
Old mother water, that is, sauerkraut mother liquor, commonly known as old brine, refers to a mixed brine solution
containing active lactic acid bacteria, fermentation metabolites and soluble substances exuded from vegetables by adding fresh or salted leaves to the traditional ceramic altar, adding or not adding auxiliary materials, lactic acid bacteria, and soluble substances produced by bubble fermentation.

Combined with the actual production of Laotan sauerkraut, the standard comprehensively and systematically sorts out the whole chain process of Laotan sauerkraut production, and makes clear and standardized requirements
for the site selection and plant environment, plant and workshop, facilities and equipment, quality and hygiene management, raw and auxiliary materials, food additives and packaging materials, quality and safety control of the production process, packaging and labeling, inspection, storage and transportation, traceability and recall, training, management system and personnel, records and document management, etc.
of Laotan sauerkraut industry.

The reporter of "China Consumer Daily" noted that the production process of Laotan sauerkraut includes raw material pretreatment, salting fermentation, cleaning, bubble fermentation, out of the altar cutting, ingredient stirring, filling, sterilization and other links
.
The quality and safety control clauses of the standard production process clearly stipulate that fresh mustard greens should be removed from foreign matter, and unqualified raw materials
such as scabbage, hollow, discoloration, and pests and diseases should be selected.
After the fresh mustard greens are pretreated or the salted sauerkraut is out of the pool, foreign matter, rotten leaves, yellow leaves, old roots, woody layers, crude fibers and other inedible parts should be further removed, and then cleaned with water for multiple times, and the last cleaning water can be clear and free of impurities before entering the altar for bubble fermentation
.
Before bubble fermentation, the bubble fermentation workshop should be cleaned, and the tools and ceramic altars used in the fermentation process should be disinfected
.
Raw materials should be added according to the requirements of bubble fermentation process and recipe, and fermentation should be carried out according to the process requirements, and related operations should be recorded, including sauerkraut varieties, entering the altar time, entering the altar quantity, raw and auxiliary material name and manufacturer batch number, out of the altar time, etc.
, and the temperature and humidity of the bubble fermentation workshop should be recorded
.
The salted mustard greens after cleaning should be put into the fermentation ceramic jar within 2 hours, and salt water or water should be added in time for sealed bubble fermentation
.

Chen Gong, director of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology and one of the drafters of the standard, said that the formulation of the standard is to give priority to consumer health and safety, follows the principle of "advanced, practical, unified and standardized", and the health indicators and food additive indicators are in line with
the current national standards 。 The standard clearly stipulates the concept of Laotan sauerkraut, and makes clear quality and safety related provisions for the whole processing process of Laotan sauerkraut from raw material vegetable inspection to delivery, as well as related equipment and facilities in the processing process, which is conducive to standardizing corporate behavior, improving the overall level of the industry, promoting benign interaction in the industry, promoting the healthy development of the industry, and guiding the orderly development of
the upstream mustard planting industry.