DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY

FACULTY OF SCIENCE & MATHEMATICS

UNIVERSITI PENDIDIKAN SULTAN IDRIS

SBK 3023

FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION

TITLE : REPORT TRIP TO VITAGEN

GROUP : A

PROGRAM : SCIENCE EDUCATION (AT16)

NAME MATRIC NUMBER

SHARIFAH MAIZURA KASMAWATI D20091035071

FATIN IZZATI BT ZAINAL ABIDIN D20091035085

NUR ADHA BT MHD AMIN D20091035114

NUR IBTISAM BT MOHAMAD D20091035117

Title : Vitagen

Matter : 7 Principle of HACCP

1) Principle 1 : Conduct a hazard analysis

VITAGEN is a cultured milk drink made by fermenting skim milk with

billions of live probiotic cultures (i.e. Lactobacillus acidophilus and

Lactobacillus casei) to help maintain a healthy digestive system. These

probiotic cultures are specially imported from the Chr. Hansen Laboratory in

Denmark, a world leading cultures laboratory that supplies high quality

probiotics worldwide. VITAGEN is available in 3 delicious varieties.

VITAGEN Regular, VITAGEN Less Sugar and VITAGEN Collagen Less

Sugar.

The vitagen is produced by cultivating these live good bacteria in wholesome

milk and added with real fruit juice. All these goodness aid digestion, thus

keeping one’s digestive system in balance and healthy for a healthy body.

Moreover, Vitagen is the first and only cultured milk to obtain certification

and ISO 9002.

How is vitagen produced?

STAGE 1 Lactobacillus culture from the laboratories of Chr.Hansen from Denmark

Fresh milk solids from Australia and New Zealand

The milk is pasteurization to kill the bacteria

The good bacteria is inoculated and fermented in fresh non-fat milk solids. It is

left to ferment for 60 hours. Fermented milk is very sour and is not ready for

consumption

STAGE 2 The LB is thus quickly chilled

STAGE 3 Mixture is homogenized to ensure that the same quality is consistent throughout

STAGE 4 Ingredient such as real fruit juices and special trade recipe is added to make

vitagen

STAGE 5 The finished product is then filled into the vitagen bottles and content sealed

Before that, the bottles have to sterilize

STAGE 6 5 bottles are shrinkwrapped and transferred to storage room at temperature

less that 4 degree celcius

STAGE 7 All these are loaded on to the vitagen trucks and delivered.

2) Principle 2 : Identify critical control points

Amount of microbe control

The main and most important microbe use to make vitagen is Lactobaccilus

culture which this microbe is a major part of the Lactic Acid Bacteria Group.

Billion of microbe contained in a cup of vitagen.

pH control

pH Balance is produced By Lactic Acid provided by Lactobaccilus culture to

alter the Large intestine to a slightly more Acidic level, destroying putrefactive

bacteria

Temperature control

Full milk is heated at 85-90oC for 30-40 minutes to destroy spoilage organism.

The milk is also cooled after added with other ingredients and culture at 42 oC

for several hours. This is the ideal temperature for starter culture to growth.

3) Establish critical limits for each critical control point

Microbial aspect of safety:

Process that are aimed at minimizing organisms include

o Pasteurization

Pasteurization is heating of every particle of milk or milk product to a specific

temperature for a specified period of time without allowing recontamination of

that milk or milk product during the heat treatment process.

o Purpose 

There are two distinct purposes for the process of milk pasteurization:

1. Public Health Aspect - to make milk and milk products safe for human

consumption by destroying all bacteria that may be harmful to health (pathogens)

2. Keeping Quality Aspect - to improve the keeping quality of milk and milk

products. Pasteurization can destroy some undesirable enzymes and many

spoilage bacteria. Shelf life can be 7, 10, 14 or up to 16 days.

The extent of microorganism inactivation depends on the combination of temperature

and holding time. Minimum temperature and time requirements for milk

pasteurization are based on thermal death time studies for the most heat resistant

pathogen found in milk

To ensure destruction of all pathogenic microorganisms, time and temperature

combinations of the pasteurization process are highly regulated:

Milk:  63° C for not less than 30 min., 72° C for not less than 16 sec.

o Sterilization

Sterilization is a term referring to any process that eliminates (removes) or kills all

forms of microbial life, including transmissible agents (such as fungi, bacteria,

viruses, spore forms, etc.) present on a surface, contained in a fluid, in medication, or

in a compound such as biological culture media.Sterilization can be achieved by

applying the proper combinations of heat, chemicals, irradiation, high pressure, and

filtration.

4) Establish critical control point monitoring requirements

Monitoring activities are necessary to ensure that the process of Vitagen is under

control at each critical control point. Fermented milk products and pasteurised

milk products which is include Vitagen cultured milk drinks. Vitagen processes

included the raw material, storage, formulation, processing, filling, packing,

storage and delivery of. According to the HACCP principle above, Vitagen is

applied that principles. Such procedures of establish critical control point

monitoring requirements might include determining how and by whom cooking

time and temperature should be monitored. Vitagen must be refrigerated between

7ºC to 10ºC. However, it can be taken out of refrigerator and left at room

temperature for up to 2 hours before consumption.

5) Establish corrective actions

Specific corrective actions must be developed for each CCP in the HACCP system

in order to deal with deviations when they occur. The actions must ensure that the

CCP has been brought under control. Actions taken must also include proper

disposition of the affected product. Deviation and product disposition procedures

must be documented in the HACCP record keeping. Vitagen research and

development laboratory is staffed by the finest technical personnel who are

constantly in pursuit of innovative new products. They also research into the use

of new equipment and technologies as well as new manufacturing processes in

order to improve the efficiency of our plant and the quality of our manufactured

products. Specialized Quality Control units are responsible to keep a daily check

on products through regular testing at every stage of manufacturing to ensure

conformity with the highest international standards.

6) Establish record keeping procedures

Malaysia Milk is supported by an efficient distribution and sales network covering

key market centre located throughout the country. Special refrigerated delivery

trucks and vans travel the length and breadth of Malaysia to ensure products reach

retail outlets as fresh as the day they leave the Malaysia Milk plant. This is in

keeping with our commitment to Quality. 

To ensure that all Muslims can enjoy Vitagen drinks, Vitagen Company has not

only selected ingredients suitable for Muslims but also obtained Halal certification

from Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS). MUIS is the highest Islamic

authority in Singapore and the only authorized bosy to issue halal certificates.

7) Establish procedures for ensuring the HACCP system is working as intended

In principle 7, the establish procedures for ensure the HACCP system is working

as intended is to validation ensures that the plants do what they were designed to

do. That is, they are successful in ensuring the production of a safe product. The

plans are involve of the fishing boat, raw material, processing, boxing, shipment

and last is the safe product. When all of this applied or went well as the planning,

the Vitagen is the safe product to human. Besides, the materials that involve in the

process of making Vitagen also required to have their own HACCP plans. The

other material is like the fruits that used in Vitagen. Establish effective

recordkeeping to document the HACCP system. This would include records of

hazards and their control methods, the monitoring of safety requirements and

action taken to correct potential problems. Each of these principles must be

backed by sound scientific knowledge for example the Vitagen must be

refrigerated between 7ºC to 10ºC. However, it can be taken out of refrigerator and

left at room temperature for up to 2 hours before consumption. It should not be

placed at room temperature for too long because live probiotic cultures in Vitagen

will become active and use the sugar to multiply and produce lactic acid. This acid

causes Vitagen to taste sour, which is not a true representation of the refreshing

taste of Vitagen. Once a bottle of Vitagen is opened, it should be consume

immediately. In 2001, seeing the need to assure consumers of safe & wholesome

food, Malaysia Dairy Industries Pte Ltd embarked on a food safety program and

subsequently achieved Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)

certification. This program focuses on food safety from the procurement and

handling, manufacturing and distribution of the final goods.

7 Principles of HACCP

REFLECTION

For accomplishment of Food Science and Nutrition project, we Science Education students

had a field trip to Vitagen factory which is located at Petaling Jaya. As we arrived there, we

were welcomed by one of the workers for the company. She acts as our tour guide in that day.

We watched a video recording and a briefly explanation about the process of making Vitagen

before we get started the tour.

As the tour guide had explained, Vitagen is a cultured milk drink made by fermenting

skim milk with billions of live probiotic cultures to help maintain a healthy digestive system.

They are using good bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus casei.

Probiotic cultures in Vitagen combined with the good bacteria in our body help the body

defend it against toxins, harmful bacteria and allergens. Thus, Vitagen contributes positively

to our health because it promotes good colon health and improves our immune system.

The tour guide also explained to us about the process of making yogurt. It is really

interesting and beneficial to know details about the process of making Vitagen. We were

given time for having questions and answers session. As expected, there were a lot of things

and ideas have been questioned throughout the session. The more we asked, the more

information we get. After that, we continued to the factory. We were briefed the rules and

regulations before walking into the factory and the tour guide officer mentioned “walk within

the yellow lines”. These to ensure our safety since some big trucks were there.

The tour was nice but uneventful because we just allowed watching the process of

yogurt from far. The visual was not clear enough since it was too crowded with all of the

members were inside the factory. It ended with a small tea-party and food testing in a room.

All of the Vitagen and Marigold products were being served. We were asked to have a test of

each product. It is the biggest opportunity to have a taste of some products that seems rarely

found in market. The best part was when the company giving special tokens for each of us as

appreciation for their visitors.