SARDINES

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the requirements in
MT-323 (Manufacturing Processes)

Second Semester
S.Y. 2021-2022

JUAN LUIS D. GANTINAO

BIT-Mechanical Tech (3A)

Submitted to:
ENGR. EDRIAN M. JAGUIO
Course Instructor

1
 Table of Contents
Page

INTRODUCTION 1
SCOPE OF STUDY 3
MANUFACTURING 4
Location and Layout of the Dairy 4
Water Supply 5
The Milking Facility 6
Milking Facility Construction 7
Types of Milking Systems 8
The Milk House or Milkroom 9
Pasteurization 10
Laboratory 12
Processing Area 13
The Aging Process 14
Labeling 15
Cleaning and Sanitizing Equipment 15
PRODUCTION PROCESS 17
Milk Processing 17
Dairy Processing Stages 18
Separation, Clarification, and Centrifugation 19
Pasteurization 20
Verifying the Pasteurization Process 20
Milk Powders 21
Evaporation and Drying 23
PROCESS PLANNING 26
Land and Location 26
Site Development 26
Layout and Buildings 27
Plant and Machinery 28
MANUFACTURING PROCESS 31
CLASSIFICATION OF MANUFACTURING PROCESSES 32
Raw Material 32
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 Utilities 32
Manpower 33
Environmental Aspects and Pollution Control 34
Marketing and Selling Arrangements 35
Business Prospects 35
INSPECTION AND QUALITY CONTROL 35
Analysis of Sample 35
Microbiological Quality Analyses 37
Microbial Quality Analysis at Farm Level 37
Microbial Quality Testing at Milk Intake 38
REFERENCES 39

3
 INTRODUCTION
Sardines

Sardines are small epipelagic fish that sometimes migrate along the

coast in large schools. They are an important forage fish for larger forms of

marine life.

Sardine is a generic term applied to a number of different kinds of

small saltwater fish which are prepared, cooked, and packed in a special

way. Sardines are actually canned herring and the Maine sardine is the

Atlantic herring, Clupea herengus.

The edges of the scales on the belly of these fish are rough. These

species lay their eggs on the seabed; Atlantic herrings usually lay their eggs

at depths of 40–200 m and in some cases intertidally on gravel and small

stones and the Pacific herring spawns on seaweed between tidemarks.

Both species spawn on narrow strips. They mature at about 3–4 years

of age and their annual fecundity amounts to 40 000–100 000 eggs.

Throughout life the total fecundity would be about 10 times greater and only

two survivors are needed to replace the stock.

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 Hence the annual mortality each year of the eggs, larvae, and

juveniles is high; indeed, it is approximately the inverse of the annual

fecundity. The natural mortality of the adults is that sustained under

predation in the absence of fishing and, as might be expected, it is rather

difficult to establish; that of the herring might be about 10–20% of numbers

per year.

These fish travel in huge schools and live in the open ocean, ranging

from Greenland to North Carolina. The smallest of these herring, 12–17 cm

in length, are dressed and canned as sardines, while larger ones are cut into

small steaks and packed as ‘fish steaks’ or filleted and smoked to make

kippered snacks.

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 Sardinella longiceps is the most important and widely distributed of

all the species in the tropical environments. Sardines provide a tasty, low-

calorie package. They provide valuable protein, minerals, vitamins, and

cholesterol-reducing omega-3 fatty acids. Herring has been canned since the

early 1780s when Napoleon recognized that there was a need to preserve

food.

Even today with the convenience of the refrigerator and the freezer,

sales of canned food have been rising yearly. Sardines are also processed

without preservatives as they are sterilized by heat in a sealed aluminum can.

SCOPE STUDY

This specification applies to Canned Sardines distributed by WFP,

hermetically sealed and processed by heat to achieve commercial sterility

and prevent spoilage. The fish will be packed in 200g or 425g cans, in a

medium as specified by contract (e.g., tomato sauce/vegetable

oil/brine).

MANUFACTURING

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 The main objective of canning is to obtain a shelf-stable product that

can be stored in suitable containers for a considerable length of time (at least

two years) without undergoing food spoilage, while retaining desirable

nutritional and sensory qualities.

To achieve satisfactory shelf-life the following conditions must be observed:

i. The contents of the cans must be commercially sterilized.

ii. The inside of the can must be resistant to and damaging effects

from the contents and the outside must be resistant to corrosion under

reasonable storage conditions.

iii. The can ends must be sealed to prevent ingress of water and/or air

or any form of contamination.

Processing Operation

General

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Fish should be chill stored at a temperature between 0º and 2 ºC, or sorted

frozen in freezers at temperatures below -28 °C.

When frozen fish is used, it must be thawed before grading and/or dressing.

Description of canning sardines in oil

The method for canning sardines in oil is often called the raw

packaging method which contrasts with the method in which the sardines are

thermally treated before packing into cans.

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 The processing plant related to the description has a capacity of 15

tons raw fish per 8 hours. The overall yields is approximately 50% of the

weight of raw fish. See Figure 10 "Layout for sardines in oil, cannery"

which shows a plant of this capacity.

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Layout of sardine cannery

One ton of raw sardines is required to produce 5 200 (5 263) 1/4 club cans,

packed into 52 cases of 100 cans each or 5 800 (5 882) 1/4 dingley cans

packed into 58 cases of 100 cans each.

The operations after the thawing of the frozen fish or after transporting the

fresh fish from the chill store are as follows:

1. The sardines are size-graded by an automatic grading machine which

selects sardines to suit the size of cans used in the plant.

Number of sardines per can permitted* for various can types

Type of sardine Number of sardines

Minimum Maximum
1/4 dingley 1 layer 6 sardines 12 sardines

1/8 6 sardines 12 sardines

1/16 oblong 2 layers 8 sardines 14 sardines

1/4 club 1 layer 4 sardines 8 sardines

2. After grading, the sardines are discharged onto a conveyor for

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transportation to the nobbing machine where the head and guts of the fish

are removed. On a typical nobbing machine, the fish are placed on

continuous belts with one fish in each compartment. The belt feeds the fish

to a cutting wheel which cuts the head, and together with the guts, draws it

away from the body with rollers. If necessary, the tails are cut in the same

operation.

The packers examine the fish to ensure complete removal of guts.

Loss of weight during nobbing is approximately 21%.

Nowadays there are also nobbing machines with greater capacity,

served by four or more operators, which can complete following operations:

 Removal of the head

 Evisceration

 Removal of the tail

 Washing the fish

 Packing the fish into cans

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The automatic nobbing/packing machine has a capacity of 35-80 cans per

minute and requires approximately 50% of the manpower required by a

traditional canning line (Perovic, 1983).

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Flow sheet for canning sardines in oil

3. After nobbing the sardines pass through a washing process to remove

blood and surface slime. Washing machines of many types may be used.

Washing should be with potable water or sea water of similar quality. (For

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certain species with hard and inedible scales, such as pilchard, special

washing machines suitable for removing scales are used).

4. The sardines are then transported, usually by a conveyor, to a brining

machine. The brining can either be a batch or a continuous operation. The

speed of the process and the concentration of the brine can be controlled.

The fish are loaded into the brining unit in one end where they are immersed

in concentrated salt solution, and then screwed through the unit and

simultaneously brined. The fish are then discharged at the opposite end of

the unit.

Salt is absorbed by the flesh; a salt content of about 1-2% of fish weight,

when in boxes is acceptable. The brining machine is equipped with a filter to

screen particles from the brine.

In addition to giving the product the desired salt content, brining has other

beneficial effects. The process brightens the appearance of the fish by

removing remaining slime and also toughens the skin; when un-brined fish

are canned much of the skin adheres to the can.

5. After brining, the fish are allowed to drain before being transported to the

packing table.

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The brine must be prepared from salt which does not contain large quantities

of magnesium chloride, a common contaminant in unrefined salt. The brine

should be replaced regularly as otherwise it becomes a source of

contamination.

After the brining process the sardines are packed (manually or

automatically) into pre-washed cans.

A manually operated packing line is equipped with conveyor belts, the speed

of which can be altered in order to ensure a smooth supply of sardines and

cans to the packers. The filled cans and waste are removed by the conveyor

after packing.

In common sardine lines the filled cans pass over a weight control unit to a

can aligner and then to a can pusher, which automatically feeds the conveyor

transferring them to the pre-cooker.

Change of yield during the packing process depends on the quality of raw

material, but on average 5% loss of weight is expected.

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6. A typical flash cooker for sardines consists of 2 sections, one for cooking

(in steam at about 95 °C) and one for drying (in hot air at about 130 °C). The

cans with the open end upwards are automatically transferred to crates,

which are hanging on crossbars mounted on a continuous chain conveyor

running in slings up awards into the cooking section, and into slings

downwards in the drying section.

Between the two sections water is drained from cans as the crates are turned

through 360° around a tumbler. The heat in the cooking section is obtained

from supply of direct steam while the heat in the drying section is indirectly

supplied from a heat exchanger. A fan located on the top of the section

circulates the heated air. Weight loss during this operation is approximately

25 %.

7. From the cooker the cans are automatically transferred onto a conveyor

which takes then to the oil dispenser and onto the seaming machine where

they are sealed.

8. Before the retorting process the cans are washed to remove fish residues

and oil from the outside of the containers.

Examples of retorting temperatures and time for canning sardines

Can type Temp. (°C) Retorting time

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 (min)
1/4 club 115-116 55
1/4 dingley 115-116 65

Description of canning pre-smoked sardines in tomato sauce or oil

Most of the operations in this process are similar to those described for

canning sardines in oil.

The description is related to a plant capacity of 5 tons of raw fish per 8

hours.

The yield from canning of sardines and other pre-smoked small fishes

approximated the yields obtained when canning sardines in oil.

The various operations are described below.

1. Grading is similar to the operation described for canine sardines in

oil.

2.Brining is similar to the operation described for canning sardines in

oil.

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 3.The fish are rodded, i.e., hung on rods through the eyes. This

operation can be done automatically or manually.

The automatic rodding being a complicated process is only practiced

in large plants. The rodded fish are placed into frames which are fitted

to the smoking racks.

The frames have usually accommodated for 30 rods, each with 30

fish.

4. The fish are smoked for approximately 1 hour at temperatures up to

l30 °C. The main purpose of the smoking is to enhance flavor and to

lower the water content of the fish.

Usually-tunnel type smoking kilns are used in which there is a

controlled temperature gradient between 30° and 125-130°C.

The air passes through a heat exchanger while smoke added. The

smoke is produced by a smoke generator using sawdust from hard

woods (oak or similar). Loss during smoking is approximately 25%.

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5. After smoking the bodies of the fish are separated from the heads

with an automatic cutting machine. The heads are then removed from

the rods with an automatic rod stripping machine. Loss of weight

during the de-heading operation is approximately 10-12%.

6.The packing, the filling of sauce or oil and the double seaming

operations are similar to those described for canning sardines in oil.

When preparing tomato sauce, puree of good quality must be used and

to this is added olive oil or fish oil, etc.

Typical mixtures comprise one part oil and two parts tomato puree

(20% concentration).

7. All subsequent operations are similar to those described for canning

sardines in oil.

Description of canning fish paste products

The description is related to a fish paste canning plant with a

capacity of l0 tons whole raw fish per 8 hours. The production is

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based on either beheaded, gutted fish with an average weight of 1.5 kg

or smaller industrial fish. See Figure 14 "Layout for fish paste

products cannery" which shows a plant of the capacity mentioned

above.

Overall yield when manufacturing canned fish paste products

depends on species involved, however, approximately 45-65% of raw

fish weight could be used for planning purposes.

The output from a plant producing meat balls is approximately

25 000/850 ml cans per 8 hours alternatively 8 000/850 ml cans of

fish cakes or 15 000/850 ml cans of meat balls could be produced.

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Flow sheet for canning pre-smoked small fish in tomato sauce and oil

The raw material has to go through a grinding/chopping and mincing

process.

1. The fish are washed, descaled when necessary, eviscerated and beheaded.

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2.According to skin thickness and size, the fish will have to be split into

halves from head to tail along the backbone.

3.The split and opened fish are washed and cleaned.

4. The washed split fish is separated in a meat-bone separator. According to

the type of fish one will get an acceptable minced product, and offal, bones

and skin.

5.If the mince is unacceptable, (i.e., discolored because of blood etc.), it may

be necessary to have it washed and then dewatered by means of a screwpress

6.The minced fish is mixed in a bowl chopper or mincer with the other

ingredients. it is important to add the salt first and to allow the mincer to

work for a few minutes before adding the remaining ingredients to the

mixture.

This will improve the binding properties of the fish. See Figure 16

"Processing line for fish meat".

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Layout for pre-smoked small fish cannery.

Sardine cutting tool machine

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 The Cabinplant nobbing machine is designed for the cutting of

sardines, sprats and other species of small fish. The fish are fed manually,

and the feeding speed depends on the number of operators. The fish can be

cut in different ways e.g. removal of head, removal of head and tail, or

removal of head and tail and cutting into pieces.

Our nobbing unit consists of a pocket conveyor and a nobbing head.

The pockets are designed to ensure correct placing of fish prior to head-

cutting. The operators position the fish and control feeding of the pocket

conveyor manually, ensuring correct feeding and avoiding build-up of

damaged fish. The nobbing head cuts the head off the fish exactly at the

required point by means of a rotating knife. This way of cutting off the head

gives a clean through-cut without damaging the fish. Then the evisceration

device sucks out fish viscera which are discharged by the vacuum system.

PRODUCTION PROCESS
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 At the cannery, the fish are washed, their heads are removed, and the

fish are then smoked or cooked, either by deep-frying or by steam-cooking,

after which they are dried. They are then packed in either olive, sunflower,

or soybean oil, water, or in a tomato, chili, or mustard sauce.

Canned sardines in supermarkets may actually be sprat (such as the

“brisling sardine”) or round herrings. Fish sizes vary by species. Good-

quality sardines should have the head and gills removed before packing.

They may also be eviscerated before packing (typically the larger varieties).

If not, they should be purged of undigested or partially digested food or

feces by holding the live fish in a tank long enough for them to empty their

digestive systems.

Sardines are typically tightly packed in a small can which is scored for

easy opening, either with a pull tab like that on a beverage can or with a key

attached to the bottom or side of the can. Thus, it has the benefit of being an

easily portable, nonperishable, self-contained food.

The close packing of sardines in the can has led to their metaphorical

use in the term, "packed like sardines", to describe any situation where

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people or objects are crowded tightly together such as in a bus or nightclub.

It has also been used as the name of a children's game, where one person

hides and each successive person who finds the hidden one packs into the

same space until only one is left out, who becomes the next one to hide.

PROCESS PLANNING

The process begins with actual fishing of sardines through Mega

Fishing Corp. (MFC), the fishing arm of Mega Global, at the helm. The

team, equipped with state-of-the art sonar and fish finders, begins at

sundown, when the fishing vessels head off to the fishing grounds. “Using

side scanning sonar technology, a sonar boat looks for a healthy fish

population. Once detected, green light is used to attract the fish. Then, the

catcher boat comes and lowers its nets, circling these around the school of

fish,” Mega said. Once the net is pulled back up to the surface for loading,

the team uses a fish pump that allows it to shorten the loading period from

one hour to just two minutes.

“This is an important innovation, as the quicker loading times ensure

that the fish is fresher and histamine levels are kept to a minimum, resulting

in better taste,” Mega said. It added that this also extends the shelf life of the

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fish from just two days to seven days. The risk of contamination is also

lower since the fish were not touched by human hands.

The caught fish are preserved in zero-degree chilled sea water in

insulated bins that keep them fresh and free from contaminant.

On arrival at the fish port, the catch is mechanically unloaded using

the vacuum pump to tanks in the holding dock, and are then transported to

Mega Global’s canning plant.

Once unloaded in the canning plant, the fish are cleaned in cold water,

submerged in brine tanks and go through the process of agitation in

conveyor belts to remove scales naturally.

“Workers then grade the fish according to size in preparation for

further sorting. After this, the sorted fish go by a conveyor belt through a

nobbing machine where the heads and tails are automatically cut, and where

entrails are moved without human intervention, ensuring the sanitation of

the products,” the company said. While the fish are being sorted, the cans

are simultaneously sterilized to ensure cleanliness.

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 The fish are then put into the can using an automated process, after

which the filled cans are placed in an exhaust box for precooking at a high

temperature. The cans then pass through de-cantering process, which

removes water and oils and maintains the consistency of the sauce. After

this, the cans go to the automated sauce filling tank and are then sealed

hermetically. The next step is retorting or putting the sealed cans at a very

high heat to ensure that the products are shelf stable. “After the cans are

cooled, they are then labelled automatically, with batch codes added to

indicate production batches and expiration dates. The cans are then packed

and tagged, and the sealed boxes then go into warehouses for shipping and

delivery,” the company said.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Sardines appear in little cans on the shelves of food stores. You may

wonder how these tiny fish got into those cans or how sardine processing

occurs. From cannery to shelf, here's how it all happens.

Entering the Cannery

The sardines enter the cannery on ice, in a refrigerator or pre-frozen at

sea. Inspectors examine and evaluate the fish while they're unloaded. The

inspectors monitor the condition of each sardine, check the temperature and

28
collect samples for chemical analysis. Unacceptable fish do not make it to

the next step. Also, frozen sardines are thawed under controlled conditions.

Continued Processing
Machines receive the sardines and mechanically remove their heads,

entrails and remaining waste portions. The prepared sardines head for a

conveyor belt of rushing water while the cans are sanitized and sent to filling

tables in front of the now thoroughly washed fish. At this point, workers

count out the correct number of sardines per can and fill them by hand. The

filled cans return to a conveyor and land in an "exhaust box" that steam-

cooks them and removes excess liquid.

Final Stages
Some sardines are immediately smoked and others have ingredients

added, as their packing style indicates. Additional machines apply lids,

codes, identification labels and seals. In the final, pressure-cooking stage,

thermal processing ensures sterile product safety, and inspector sample and

evaluate the sardines for their last labeling before being shipped to stores.

CLASSIFICATION OF MANUFACTURING
PROCESSES
All these processes used in manufacturing concern for changing the

ingots into usable products may be classified into six major groups as
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primary shaping processes, secondary machining processes, metal forming

processes, joining processes, surface finishing processes and processes

effecting change in properties

Primary shaping processes

Primary shaping processes are manufacturing of a product from an

amorphous material. Some processes produce finish products or articles into

its usual form whereas others do not, and require further working to finish

component to the desired shape and size. Castings need re-melting of scrap

and defective ingots in cupola or in some other melting furnace and then

pouring of the molten metal into sand or metallic moulds to obtain the

castings. Thus the intricate shapes can be manufactured. Typical examples

of the products that are produced by casting process are machine beds,

automobile engines, carburetors, flywheels etc. The parts produced through

these processes may or may not require to undergo further operations.

Some of the important primary shaping processes is:

(1) Casting,

(2) Powder metallurgy,

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 (3) Plastic technology,

(4) Gas cutting,

(5) Bending and

(6) Forging.

Secondary or Machining Processes

As large number of components require further processing after the

primary processes. These components are subjected to one or more number

of machining operations in machine shops, to obtain the desired shape and

dimensional accuracy on flat and cylindrical jobs. Thus, the jobs undergoing

these operations are the roughly finished products received through primary

shaping processes. The process of removing the undesired or unwanted

material from the work piece or job or component to produce a required

shape using a cutting tool is known as machining.

This can be done by a manual process or by using a machine called

machine tool (traditional machines namely lathe, milling machine, drilling,

shaper, planner, slotter). In many cases these operations are performed on

rods, bars and flat surfaces in machine shops. These secondary processes are
31
mainly required for achieving dimensional accuracy and a very high degree

of surface finish. The secondary processes require the use of one or more

machine tools, various single or multi-point cutting tools (cutters), job

holding devices, marking and measuring instruments, testing devices and

gauges etc. for getting desired dimensional control and required degree of

surface finish on the workpieces. The example of parts produced by

machining processes includes hand tools machine tools instruments,

automobile parts, nuts, bolts and gears etc. Lot of material is wasted as scrap

in the secondary or machining process.

Some of the common secondary or machining processes are:

(1) Turning,

(2) Threading,

(3) Knurling,

(4) Milling,

(5) Drilling,

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(6) Boring,

(7) Planning,

(8) Shaping,

(9) Slotting,

(10) Sawing,

(11) Broaching,

(12) Hobbing,

(13) Grinding,

(14) Gear cutting,

(15) Thread cutting and

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 (16) Unconventional machining processes namely machining with

Numerical Control (NC) machines tools or Computer Numerical Control

(CNC) machines tools using ECM, LBM, AJM, USM setups etc.

Metal Forming Processes

Forming processes encompasses a wide variety of techniques, which

make use of suitable force, pressure or stresses, like compression, tension

and shear or their combination to cause a permanent deformation of the raw

material to impart required shape. These processes are also known as

mechanical working processes and are mainly classified into two major

categories i.e., hot working processes and cold working processes. In these

processes, no material is removed; however, it is deformed and displaced

using suitable stresses like compression, tension, and shear or combined

stresses to cause plastic deformation of the materials to produce required

shapes. Such processes lead to production of directly usable articles which

include kitchen utensils, rods, wires, rails, cold drink bottle caps, collapsible

tubes etc.

Hot working Processes

(1) Forging,

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(2) Rolling,

(3) Hot spinning,

(4) Extrusion,

(5) Hot drawing and

(6) Hot spinning.

Cold working processes

(1) Cold forging,

(2) Cold rolling,

(3) Cold heading,

(4) Cold drawing,

(5) Wire drawing,

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 (6) Stretch forming,

(7) Sheet metal working processes such as piercing, punching,

lancing, notching, coining, squeezing, deep drawing, bending etc.

Joining Processes

Many products observed in day-to-day life, are commonly made by

putting many parts together may be in subassembly. For example, the ball

pen consists of a body, refill, barrel, cap, and refill operating mechanism. All

these parts are put together to form the product as a pen. More than 800 parts

are put together to make various subassemblies and final assembly of car or

aero-plane. A complete machine tool may also require to assemble more

than 100 parts in various sub assemble or final assembly.

The process of putting the parts together to form the product, which

performs the desired function, is called assembly. An assemblage of parts

may require some parts to be joined together using various joining

processes. But assembly should not be confused with the joining process.

Most of the products cannot be manufactured as single unit they are

manufactured as different components using one or more of the above

36
manufacturing processes, and these components are assembled to get the

desired product. Joining processes are widely used in fabrication and

assembly work.

In these process two or more pieces of metal parts are joined together

to produce desired shape and size of the product. The joining processes are

carried out by fusing, pressing, rubbing, riveting, screwing or any other

means of assembling. These processes are used for assembling metal parts

and in general fabrication work. Such requirements usually occur when

several pieces are to be joined together to fabricate a desired structure of

products.

These processes are used developing steam or water-tight joints.

Temporary, semi-permanent or permanent type of fastening to make a good

joint is generally created by these processes. Temporary joining of

components can be achieved by use of nuts, screws and bolts. Adhesives are

also used to make temporary joints.

Some of the important and common joining processes are:

(1) Welding (plastic or fusion),

37
(2) Brazing,

(3) Soldering,

(4) Riveting,

(5) Screwing,

(6) Press fitting,

(7) Sintering,

(8) Adhesive bonding,

(9) Shrink fitting,

(10) Explosive welding,

(11) Diffusion welding,

38
 (12) Keys and cotters joints,

(13) Coupling and

(14) Nut and bolt joints.

Surface Finishing Processes

Surface finishing processes are utilized for imparting intended surface

finish on the surface of a job. By imparting a surface finishing process,

dimension of part is not changed functionally; either a very negligible

amount of material is removed from the certain material is added to the

surface of the job. These processes should not be misunderstood as metal

removing processes in any case as they are primarily intended to provide a

good surface finish or a decorative or protective coating on to the metal

surface. Surface cleaning process also called as a surface finishing process.

Some of the commonly used surface finishing processes are:

(1) Honing,

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(2) Lapping,

(3) Super finishing,

(4) Belt grinding,

(5) Polishing,

(6) Tumbling,

(7) Organic finishes,

(8) Sanding,

(9) deburring,

(10) Electroplating,

(11) Buffing,

(12) Metal spraying,

40
 (13) Painting,

(14) Inorganic coating,

(15) Anodizing,

(16) Sheradising,

(17) Parkerizing,

(18) Galvanizing,

(19) Plastic coating,

(20) Metallic coating,

(21) Anodizing and

(22) Sand blasting.

Processes Effecting Change in Properties

41
 Processes effecting change in properties are generally employed to

provide certain specific properties to the metal work pieces for making them

suitable for particular operations or use. Some important material properties

like hardening, softening and grain refinement are needed to jobs and hence

are imparted by heat treatment. Heat treatments affect the physical properties

and also make a marked change in the internal structure of the metal.

Similarly, the metal forming processes effect on the physical properties of

work pieces Similarly shot peening process, imparts fatigue resistance to

work pieces.

A few such commonly used processes are given as under:

(1) Annealing,

(2) Normalising,

(3) Hardening,

(4) Case hardening,

(5) Flame hardening,

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 (6) Tempering,

(7) Shot peeing,

(8) Grain refining and

(9) Age hardening.

INSPECTION AND QUALITY CONTROL

This note deals with the application of quality control in the fish

industry. It defines quality control and related terms, describes the objectives

of quality control, and indicates where and how it can be used.

Quality control, QC, began in the engineering industry as a means of

regulating production of large numbers of uniform articles, and the

technique has spread to other industries, including the food industry. QC in

some form is now common in the fish industry and its use is increasing

steadily as demand for uniformly quality products increases. Since fish is

more variable than most other foods, the need to apply QC is

correspondingly greater. As customers and governments become more

43
particular about their food requirements, the fish industry must keep pace

with these requirements if it is not to lose out in competition with other

foods; it is therefore important that the principles of QC become widely

appreciated in the industry.

Inspection is part of QC and means examination of raw material or

finished product to make sure it meets the specification. Inspection is

normally a commercial activity, but some official inspection of fish and fish

products is required by law; for example, in the UK fish is examined at port

and inland markets by environmental health officers. This mandatory

inspection is not part of industrial QC, but industry should know what the

law requires in this respect.

Process control is part of QC; it means checking the process, as

distinct from the raw material or finished product, to ensure that all

operations on the fish are done correctly and consistently to a set standard

that is usually described in the process specification.

Quality is difficult to define, since it means different things to

different people. One general definition is 'degree of excellence'. In

commerce, quality limits are set by what the customer is prepared to pay for;

generally, the customer will pay more for fish that he considers to be of

higher quality, and will continue to buy as long as quality remains constant.
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Some of the more important factors that determine quality from the

customer's point of view are species; ease of preparation; appearance; odor;

flavor; freshness; size; presence or absence of bones, blood and filth;

absence of specific microorganisms; condition; packaging; composition.

The objective of QC is to assist the maintenance or improvement of

profitability by minimizing customer complaints about quality, and hence to

avoid the resulting lost business.

Quality factors for fish products

Quality factor Products to which applicable
Freshness 1-8
Species 1-9
size of fish; weight of portion or 1-9
contents
condition, texture 1-8
blemishes: blood, dirt, bruises, 1-8
parasites
skin, bone, belly membrane 2-8
odor, flavor 1-8
temperature, amount of ice 1-7
Packaging 1-9
number in pack 1-8
bacterial count 1-9
salt content 3,4,8
smoke flavor 3,4
additives, coloring materials 2-8
color, gloss 2-8
freezing and cold storage conditions 5-7
Glaze 5
voids, ice lumps 6
shape and size 6,7
amount of minced fish 6,7
adhesion of batter and crumb 7

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 batter and crumb ingredients 7
amount of batter 7
fish content 7,8
degree of fill; drained weight 8
arrangement of fill 8
Composition 4,9
heat processing 8

Process specifications

Not all steps in the process need to be described in a process

specification since not all are important in meeting the product specification.

The processing factors that most affect quality in the fish industry are:

 time

 temperature

 contamination

 damage or deterioration

 hygiene and sanitation

 equipment and methods

 packing for product appeal

 correctness of fill

Raw material and packaging specifications should be included in the process

specification if they are not described elsewhere.

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Codes of Practice are available for some processes in the fish industry, and

these can serve as useful foundations on which to base process

specifications. It is impossible in the space of this note to deal with all

processing details, but the following are a number of illustrative points.

Time

Because fish is so perishable, it is important that it be processed

quickly; systematic checks must be made on the time fish takes to pass

through the process, and it is useful to prepare a schedule of permitted times.

The rate of spoilage of wet fish at different temperatures is known

accurately; thus, it is possible to specify maximum allowable times in order

to keep spoilage to a permitted level. For example, it might be specified that

fish off the market should not be iced back for more than 24 hours, or that

the interval between packing fillets at normal factory temperature and

freezing them should not be longer than 1 hour.

Freezing times can be important to quality maintenance, and often

need to be specified; in the same way maximum cold storage times for raw

material or finished product may be stated, since fish deteriorates slowly

even at low temperature.

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 Measurement and control of operation time is straightforward;

equipment like freezers or retorts can be controlled by alarm clocks, time

switches or more complex programmed systems.

Temperature

Wet fish should be held as closely as possible to 0°C throughout

handling, processing and distribution in order to reduce spoilage to a

minimum. Good practice when handling wet fish is dealt with in detail in

several notes in this series; temperature measurement is discussed in

Advisory Note 94. When it is impractical to hold fish at a specified

temperature, then a maximum permissible temperature should be given.

Temperatures of freezing, cold storage, drying, smoking, cooking and

heat processing may have to be stated in a process specification.

Contamination

The product can be contaminated in a number of ways during

processing, for example by dirt, scales, bones, blood, water, lubricating oil,

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unpleasant odors and flavors, and hair. The process specification should

detail the main methods of avoiding contamination, for example the wearing

of protective clothing. Much of what needs to be specified under this

heading is a matter of common sense and experience.

Damage or deterioration

A wide range of protective measures against damage or deterioration

come under this head, for example measures designed to prevent the fish

being trodden on, knocked, bruised, pierced with hooks, bent while stiff in

rigor, or squashed. Protection against drying or freezer burn by humidity

control, glazing or suitable packaging may be specified; instructions about

heat sealing of packs may be detailed here, and the use of vacuum packing

may be specified to reduce oxidative rancidity.

Permitted additives and their manner of use might be specified, for

example antioxidants to prevent deterioration and combustion of fish meal,

or polyphosphates to prevent drip loss in prepacked wet fish. Conditions of

storage of raw material or product may also be controlled under this head.

Hygiene and sanitation

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 Fish is a food, and must be handled hygienically; if hygiene is not

dealt with as a separate management function, then appropriate measures

should be written into the process specification. Cleaning and sanitation

procedures should be specified here; Advisory Note 45 deals with this

subject.

Equipment and methods

Rather than specify how the job should be done, it is sometimes

simpler to specify the equipment that will do it; for example, a deboning

machine that produces material of the required quality, or a labelling

machine that affixes labels of the right type, may be easier to specify than

the job to be done.

A certain type of freezer may be specified to ensure that freezing is

done in the required manner but, where the equipment can be used in several

ways, it may be necessary to specify exactly how it should be used; for

example, it is usually necessary to specify the manner of loading and the

freezing time for each product in an air blast freezer, or the brine strength

and product residence time in a continuous briner.

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Packing for product appeal

The eye appeal and finish of the product is important, and the process

specification should cover these aspects; for example, instructions to cut and

trim neatly, and to arrange the fish attractively in the pack, will help to

ensure the product is displayed to the best advantage; filling the pack with

the right number, size and weight of fish, and the manner of labelling and

stapling can be specified under this heading.

Yield and efficiency

The yield of edible product from raw fish, and the efficiency of the

process, are important factors affecting profitability, and responsibility for

these in the larger firms usually falls on production and method study staff,

but in small firms the job may conveniently be combined with QC.

Maximum yield and high efficiency depend on close supervision of such

things as skill of filleters and other hand workers, incentive schemes,

machine settings, and weight changes during processing due to drying, drip

loss, water absorption, uptake of salt, polyphosphate and cooking oil.

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Methods of measuring and controlling output of staff and machines is

outside the scope of this note.

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