Preservative for cake

[ANYTIME]

Dear Sirs
You are kindly requested to inform me about the right preservatives for pound cake
I start production of pound cake but mold appears 5 days after baking
Hygiene is very high in kitchen and in packing area
For information the cake I produces are very moist
They recommend me potassium sorbate is this the right one
Thanks in advance for replying

 

[Norcalbaker59]

It doesn’t matter how clean you think your kitchen is, if is it not sterile and hermetically sealed, then every thing produced in will be exposed to microbes. Microbes are in the air. The minute you take your cakes out of the oven, microbes land on the cake. Your cake is moist. Microbes thrive in a moist environment. Mold is an external problem.

You sell your products to the public. Microbes on food can sicken, and in some cases, causes death.

You are running business. No one here is going to take on your product liability problem by advising on preservatives. It is your responsibility to fix.

You need to conduct a shelf life study which includes hiring a qualified food lab to perform food analysis so you can find out the type of mold, and what and how to inhibit it:

This is an example of an outline of a shelf life study. I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULD DO. RATHER, THIS IS JUST TO EXPLAIN HOW TO APPROACH A STUDY.

1. Outline objectives of study: what has to be done or possibly be done. For example

• reason for study
• formula change
• packaging change
• development of new product to replace unsellable product

2. Identify cause of deterioration of product. For example

• hire a qualified food laboratory
  • perform microbial analysis
  • perform water activity level analysis

3. Determine formula. For example

• based on lab analysis
  • identify appropriate preservatives
  • reformulate and test formula

4. Determine packaging . For example

• based on lab analysis
  • identify best packaging
  • test reformulated product in new packaging

5. Cost analysis. For example

• perform cost analysis on reformulated product and packaging
• if product is not profitable with increased costs
  • increase price or
  • discontinue product and develop a replacement product
  • other alternatives?

 

[ANYTIME]

It doesn’t matter how clean you think your kitchen is, if is it not sterile and hermetically sealed, then every thing produced in will be exposed to microbes. Microbes are in the air. The minute you take your cakes out of the oven, microbes land on the cake. Your cake is moist. Microbes thrive in a moist environment. Mold is an external problem.

You sell your products to the public. Microbes on food can sicken, and in some cases, causes death.

You are running business. No one here is going to take on your product liability problem by advising on preservatives. It is your responsibility to fix.

You need to conduct a shelf life study which includes hiring a qualified food lab to perform food analysis so you can find out the type of mold, and what and how to inhibit it:

This is an example of an outline of a shelf life study. I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULD DO. RATHER, THIS IS JUST TO EXPLAIN HOW TO APPROACH A STUDY.

1. Outline objectives of study: what has to be done or possibly be done. For example

• reason for study
• formula change
• packaging change
• development of new product to replace unsellable product

2. Identify cause of deterioration of product. For example

• hire a qualified food laboratory
  • perform microbial analysis
  • perform water activity level analysis

3. Determine formula. For example

• based on lab analysis
  • identify appropriate preservatives
  • reformulate and test formula

4. Determine packaging . For example

• based on lab analysis
  • identify best packaging
  • test reformulated product in new packaging

5. Cost analysis. For example

• perform cost analysis on reformulated product and packaging
• if product is not profitable with increased costs
  • increase price or
  • discontinue product and develop a replacement product
  • other alternatives?

Thanks for replying
For your information my bakery is same as all bakeries in the area and hygiene in my bakery is not available in other similar
I have HACCAP certificate and ISO 22000 certificate
Normally all my products are preservative free
I need to add preservative for pound cake just to be similar to all other distributors of this type of cake how gives shelf life one month for their cakes
However thanks another time for your reply

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thanks for replying
For your information my bakery is same as all bakeries in the area and hygiene in my bakery is not available in other similar
I have HACCAP certificate and ISO 22000 certificate
Normally all my products are preservative free
I need to add preservative for pound cake just to be similar to all other distributors of this type of cake how gives shelf life one month for their cakes
However thanks another time for your reply

Shelf life of product has nothing to do with whether you bleached the countertops and floors. If that ISO cert had anything to do with shelf life, you wouldn’t have a mold problem.

I am going to repeat myself: the vast majority of mold(s) on baked goods is external. It comes from the air. Contamination happens when mold spores settle on your product after baking. It includes water activity level; the ratio of vapor pressure in the food and undistributed air media. That has nothing to do with how well you scrubbed the counters.

Spores are every where in the air. It does not matter how clean you think your bakery is, the spores are in the air. Mold is the bane of the bakery industry. .

No one, not even you knows what type of mold(s) is growing on your product.

No one, not even you knows what the water activity level is in the product.

No one, not even you knows what combination of preservatives will best work to inhibit the specific mold(s) growing on your product

No one, not even you knows if your packaging is contributing to the mold(s) growth

No one, not even you knows if you can afford to reformulate and repackage and still sell that product at a profit the the increased production costs.

You mentioned you normally don’t use preservatives; you might be able to clean label, but you won’t know what your options are until you get a lab to analysis your mold(s).

The only way you will get a solution to your business problem is to conduct a shelf life study on your product. You need a food lab to help you.