Hot Mama’s Secret Recipe for Sanitation Success

By Cathy Cardenuto and Adam M. Parker


Hot Mama’s Foods in Northampton, MA has come a long way in the last two decades. Established in 1984 and purchased by Matt Morse in 1991, Hot Mama’s started out specializing in gourmet, all-natural foods, but over the years has expanded to include conventional and organic products. And as expected, it was with the introduction of organic production that Hot Mama’s faced one of its biggest challenges: how to achieve a sanitation program for a facility producing both organic and non-organic products.

At first, the whole prospect was overwhelming and daunting for those few individuals who were assigned to the project. Organic standards and guidelines were completely foreign and unfamiliar to Hot Mama’s. Hot Mama’s Foods is a small food processing company with limited resources.

Technical support for this endeavor had to be determined and established, and we soon discovered that the changes we had to make to Hot Mama’s existing sanitation program were numerous and all-encompassing. It involved changing sanitizers, retraining employees, proper scheduling of organic production during a typical non-organic production day, creating and implementing new organic sanitation procedures, information gathering and documentation, maintaining organic records, and annual renewal of organic certification and audits. We realized then that making organic products in the same facility as non-organic products would require a new way of life for Hot Mama’s Foods.

As in all things, there was a first step, and that was for us to apply for organic certification. This involved filling out an application that included a section for sanitation. This section required information on the cleaners and sanitizers that would be used throughout the entire facility.

A list of cleaners and sanitizers had to be submitted with a material safety data sheet (MSDS) and label information for each product. In addition, we needed to provide information on how the cleaners would be used and the methods of cleaning, such as scraping, manual washing, foaming, rinsing and sanitizing.

This seemed simple enough at first; however, once our application was submitted and a representative from the certifying agent came to our facility for an initial audit, complexities arose.

It was during this audit that we were informed that our current sanitizer was out of compliance with organic standards. This was our first and toughest challenge to overcome. Granted, Hot Mama’s was furnished with a copy of the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) Generic Materials List of approved and prohibited chemicals by our present organic certifying agent, Baystate Organic Certifiers. OMRI provides certifiers, growers, manufacturers and suppliers an independent review of products intended for use in certified organic production, handling and processing (www.omri.org). But the truth is, it was very confusing at the beginning. It was only through correspondence and communication with Don Franczyk at Baystate Organic Certifiers that we started to make our way through this invaluable guide to organic compliance.

The Hunt for Sanitizers: A Look at the Unconventional
As expected, and prior to becoming certified organic, Hot Mama’s Foods used typical cleaners and sanitizers, just like any other food processing facility. This included using a quaternary ammonia sanitizer that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and registered with the U.S. Environmen-tal Protection Agency (EPA), but, we soon found out this particular food plant sanitizer is prohibited by organic regulation. This meant we needed to find an approved sanitizer for organic production.

We were suddenly tasked with figuring out what sanitizer we could use in its place, one that would be as effective as quaternary ammonia, that would give us the same microbial kill and that was guaranteed to maintain acceptable microbial standards.

At the start of our organic journey, we switched to chlorine as our sanitizer. Chlorine, a halogen-based chemical that attacks proteins and is extremely effective in eliminating microorganisms from surfaces, is allowed for use in organic production but there were problems in its use. These included low stability of the product, the corrosive effect of chlorine on soft metals, the application of chlorine to large pieces of equipment, and the acceptable residual limits that we needed to maintain on our equipment before and during organic production.

We struggled with all of these issues, tried other sanitizers, and struggled some more. Ultimately, our troubles were solved when Bob Porter from Ecolab helped us find a sanitizer that was approved for use in organic food production and was proven microbially effective on food contact surfaces. The active ingredients of the sanitizer are hydrogen peroxide and peroxyacetic acid. Acetic acid (the principle component of vinegar) and hydrogen peroxide in a water solution combine to form peracetic acid, a strong oxidizing agent that eliminates many of the challenges posed by chlorine sanitizers and is in compliance with the National List. The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) TAP review notes that peroxyacetic acid is a synthetic allowed only for direct food contact for use in wash water or as a sanitizer on surfaces in contact with organic food.

Of course, there are other types of sanitizers that can be used in the organic processing plant, including ozone treatment, another strong oxidizer that breaks down to form oxygen as its “waste” product—a much more environmentally friendly solution than chlorine. But as in all things great, we found that finding the right sanitizer for our operation was possible because of the joint efforts of our chemical supply company and our organic certifier, which provided Hot Mama’s Foods with the ability to meet its first sanitation challenge with success.

Great People Make the Difference
The next challenge on the road to organic compliance was to educate and train employees in the proper sanitation of equipment used in organic production. This included the appropriate use and concentration of cleaners and sanitizers and who gets to use them. In our facility, employees who go from any non-organic production to organic production must first change their frocks, hair net, gloves, aprons, and sleeve guards. This is to ensure no possible cross-contamination occurs between product lines.

Achieving this behavior was not as difficult as originally expected. All that was needed was a good understanding of why organic integrity is so important to our customers, and what organic really stands for in the food industry. The fact that Hot Mama’s employees are our best assets and they strive everyday to make good wholesome products, whether they are organic or conventional, made this challenge an easy one to overcome.

The Organic Shift
When it came to the question of when, would or could we make organic products in our facility, Hot Mama’s decided on a couple of solutions. First, we would try our very best to produce all organic product on one day to further ensure compliance and avoid possible cross-contamination from non-organic products.

Second, if we absolutely must produce organic and non-organic products on the same day, we will run organic products first on all lines to avoid cross-contamination and also avoid having to break down equipment to do a full wash down during the production day. This is one way to maintain productivity and efficiencies at the same time.

Hot Mama’s Foods also had to create and implement all new organic sanitation procedures, records and documentation throughout the facility. The starting point for us was to address all the equipment that would be used in organic production, and how we would clean it, sanitize it, and record the activity through the appropriate documentation method. Presently, Hot Mama’s Foods has two product lines that are certified by our organic certifying agent: Hot Mama’s Organic Hummus (seven different flavors), and Hot Mama’s Salsa Made with Organic Tomatoes. Since the two product lines are very different, they require separate cleaning procedures, records and documentation. We began our process by zoning in on the different steps in the production of the individual products.

Hummus Line. When we looked at our hummus production line, we needed to address several different steps from the receiving to the shipping stage. Since Hot Mama’s cooks its own beans for production, we needed to outline a cleaning procedure for the bean sorting machine and determine how to handle a changeover from non-organic beans to organic beans that would occur on that piece of equipment. All cleaning and sanitizing activities must be recorded and documented properly to prove proper segregation of non–organic production and organic production products and activities. The concentration of the sanitizers used must be recorded and documented daily for organic compliance.

With these requirements in mind—and because the bean sorting machine is not dedicated organic—we created a sorting log that records the time when non-organic beans and organic beans are sorted on this machinery, the times that the equipment is cleaned between the two product runs, and identifies the cleaning agents used. This record, with all appropriate documentation of bean type and wash down times, helps us to clearly show that there is a defined separation of non–organic and organic product runs on that specific piece of machinery. The sorting and sanitation log method is used to track and assure the integrity of the line on many other production and packaging equipment used for hummus production in our plant.

Salsa Line. For our salsa production line, there were completely separate issues to address. First, all of the ingredients used in the final product are washed with another antimicrobial peroxyacetic acid-based additive designed specifically for use in fresh-cut, further processed, and post-harvest fruit and vegetable flume and wash water systems. Although the antimicrobial treatment is approved for use in organic production, its application required that we develop very clear and precise procedures for cleaning all organic produce.

Next, the procedures for testing the concentration of the antimicrobial treatment had to be written, recording sheets needed to be produced, training for correct documentation had to be conducted, and then the actual daily chemical concentration testing, recording and documenting had to be conducted on a daily basis by employees. The challenge of writing all of these sanitation procedures for equipment and ensuring that key information was documented on all relevant records was by far the most time-consuming and detailed task that Hot Mama’s undertook in its quest for organic certification.

The actual implementation of the sanitation procedures and the introduction of new records and proper documentation on the floor was another thing altogether. It took patience, teamwork and a lot of hard work from everyone involved. The training of our employees was easy, as mentioned earlier, compared to implementing the program.

Record Tracking is the Hardest Part
What was, and still is really hard and makes those of us that do it fearful and stressed at times, is the tracking and filing of all the records that are generated on a daily basis. Without the maintenance of good records, annual organic audits could become a problem. Some of the things we did to reduce the worry about lost paperwork was to designate a set place for all forms to be deposited at the end of each shift. We picked a spot and have never changed it. Second, we invested in a good filing system.

The first time an organic auditor asks to look at a plant’s cleaning records for the previous year, many processors will quickly realize that creating an easy-to-access, organized system for record keeping is well worth the effort. And just a word of advice to all far and wide, never throw anything away. This advice comes in handy when you are getting ready for your annual organic certification renewal and audits. Those of us who have gone through it can honestly say it hasn’t become any easier, because processes and practices in the plant continue to grow and change. Every alteration translates into a change in the organic sanitation program, increasing the need for constant updates of best practices. This yearly challenge is still an obstacle. We have found that the best way to be prepared for these certification renewals and audits is to be consistent and diligent with sanitation activities and record keeping on a daily basis.

A Continuing Education in Clean Compliance
Hot Mama’s Foods strives to make the best organic product possible on a consistent basis. Our constant goal is to improve what we do and how we do it. Meeting the challenge of processing organic products along with non-organic products in the same facility involved searching out the correct sanitation tools, best practices and critical knowledge to comply with the NOP regulations. With this knowledge, attention to training, and dedicated production and sanitation personnel, we have implemented a sanitation program that works for both our conventional and organic lines. This was affirmed this past December when Hot Mama’s Northampton facility was awarded a Gold Certificate of Recognition from Silliker, Inc., a leading international network of accredited food testing and consulting laboratories in Homewood IL, which conducted a third-party audit of sanitation and other programs. This certificate is Silliker’s top scoring audit level.

After this achievement, Hot Mama’s Foods will be undertaking one more big challenge in the very near future. Hot Mama’s Foods will be moving its production to a larger facility located in Springfield, MA. This move will entail reevaluating, rewriting and retraining employees for all new organic sanitation procedures and recordkeeping requirements. But thankfully, this time we are armed with a good working knowledge of the OMRI Generic Material List, good friends, and a highly trained staff that has been through Organic Sanitation 101.

Cathy Cardenuto is the Quality Assurance Manager for Hot Mama’s Foods. Cardenuto has worked for the company since 2003. She can be reached at cathy@hotmamasfoods.com

Adam M. Parker is the Quality Assurance Inspector for Hot Mama’s Foods and has been with the company since 2000. Parker can be reached via email at adam@hotmamasfoods.com.