Cacao Powder Grinding
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Tasting Notes
99% of the time I can't disagree with what you've written here Tom.
In this particular case, IceBlocks comes across as someone technically astute. After all, how many chocolatiers do you know of who talk about sending their cocoa powder to a lab for analysis?
HERE'S A BETTER ONE: Iceblocks says they have to conform to HACCP as required by the Australian Government. HACCP is an acronym which stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point and is a very comprehensive program that companies use to identify critical points of potential microbial contamination in their manufactured food. Given that the Australian Government has determined that raw cocoa powder is contaminated and needs sterilization (or so Iceblocks says), it doesn't take a rocket scientist to put 2 and 2 together and conclude that raw cocoa butter comes from raw cocoa beans, and if raw cocoa solids are contaminated, the raw cocoa butter would DEFINITELY be considered contaminated too and thus a critical control point in the manufacturing process, which would definitely mandate further research into the supplier's claims, and also require a step to sterilize it, which would ALSO mean the fact that it's cold pressed would be irrelevant, because it would be heated at some point!
In the manufacturing world, it is common knowledge that fats such as cocoa butter act as fabulous preservatives and suspension mediums for pathogens such as eColi and Salmonella - allowing the bacterium to live much longer than if they were just on the surface of a food item.
For further educational purposes (after all, we're here to learn right?), here are the seven key points to an effective HACCP program: Note that STEP ONE mandates that Iceblocks should have done his homework LONG before he wrote about raw processed cocoa butter.
HACCP step 1 requires manufacturers to conduct a hazard analysis; they must identify food hazards and implement a written HACCP plan for food hazards that are reasonably likely to occur during processing. [46] Step 2 requires manufacturers to identify within the HACCP plan the critical control points (CCPs)the points in the manufacturing process where the identified food hazards can be minimizedand the measures that will be taken to control the hazards. [47] The third step requires manufacturers to identify and establish critical limits, the outer boundaries in which physical, biological, or chemical parameters must remain in order to control the food hazards. [48]
HACCP steps 4, 6 and 7establishing monitoring, record-keeping and verification proceduresensure the proper day-to-day functioning of the manufacturing process. Manufacturers must maintain records documenting the ongoing application of the HACCP; this requires written proof that the processor is monitoring the critical control points and critical limits, i.e., the actual recording of times, temperatures, and other measurements required by the HACCP plan. [49] Furthermore, the food processors must verify that the HACCP plan is being implemented properly. Trained individuals must review the companys HACCP records and consumer complaints, check the calibration of process monitoring instruments, and, when necessary, conduct periodic end-product or in-process testing. [50] Because scientific knowledge is always expanding, the food processor must also validate its HACCP plan annually; if the food processor had earlier concluded that no hazards were present and no HACCP plan was needed, it must reassess its earlier hazard analysis whenever there are any changes that could reasonably affect whether a food hazard now exists. [51]
The final HACCP step (step 5) requires manufacturers to establish corrective actions. Manufacturers must include within their HACCP plans corrective actions for situations in which a deviation from a critical limit occurse.g., when sterilization machinery does not maintain the proper temperature. [52] These plans should ensure that any injurious product is withheld from the stream of commerce and that the cause of the deviation is corrected. [53] Should a deviation occur for which there is no plan, the manufacturer must quarantine the potentially injurious product; determine whether the food product meets the safety criteria for distribution; and take appropriate action to ensure that any injurious product does not reach consumers and that the cause of the deviation is corrected. [54] Anytime the manufacturer takes corrective actions, the actions must be documented. [55] Importantly, when a deviation occurs for which there is no plan, the manufacturer must reassess the HACCP plan, and make any necessary modifications to the plan; this requirement ensures that when unexpected deviations occur, the manufacturer will reassess and rework the safety and quality controls it has built into the system. [56]
For further reading on the HACCP infrastructure, please feel free to visit the following web page: http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8965572/Axelrod06.html?s...
There is no way around this. Either Iceblocks is lying about HACCP, OR Iceblocks is lying about his cocoa butter being cold pressed. It is logically impossible to know about one, and not care/not know about the other. Iceblocks is not simply "misinformed."
I stand by what I said before. Shame on Iceblocks.
I guess there is one other possibility: Iceblocks doesn't have a clue about either HACCP, OR cold pressing of cocoa butter, in which case double shame on him.
Brad
