legal High Oil Content in my Sauce

M

MarFar

So I've been reaching out to various process authorities regarding a process review.

I was informed by WSU that they couldn't test/review my sauce because it has an oil content that is more than 10% of the total formulation weight.

Has anyone heard this? It's not clear to me if WSU just doesn't have the equipment or if there is some rule I've missed about having a high oil content. Salsa Lady mentioned she had trouble with WSU so maybe they're just not a very sophisticated PA??. (Their fee is certainly low at $100).

I understand that higher oil content will reduce my shelf life but that's just the nature of the sauce I'm trying to launch. It's primarily oil & vinegar based with 25% oil and 21% vinegar

EDIT: I did follow up with WSU to ask them for clarification but they've since ghosted me
 
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Never heard of that. That is the point of a process authority. They should be able to make determinations on everything from refrigerated salad dressings (which contain a significant amount of oil...) to shelf stable salad dressings to garlic in oil....you get the idea....

Move on to another supplier.

Other resources are-
ABCLabs in Florida
Southwest Bio-labs in Las Cruces NM
Cornell university
UnivNebraska lincoln


Make sure you tell them in your initial contact that your sauce contains oil, and what service/review you are wanting.
Good luck and have fun.
SL
 
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salsalady said:
Never heard of that. That is the point of a process authority. They should be able to make determinations on everything from refrigerated salad dressings (which contain a significant amount of oil...) to shelf stable salad dressings to garlic in oil....you get the idea....

Move on to another supplier.

Other resources are-
ABCLabs in Florida
Southwest Bio-labs in Las Cruces NM
Cornell university
UnivNebraska lincoln


Make sure you tell them in your initial contact that your sauce contains oil, and what service/review you are wanting.
Good luck and have fun.
SL
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Thanks! I contacted UNL but had a weird interaction and they said the turnaround time was 12 weeks. So I've reached out to the Oregon State Food Innovation Center. Will definitely get in contact with the other PAs you mentioned as well.
 
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12 weeks ....wow...but i can believe it. Who knows how far behind they might of gotten with lock downs and such. Keep looking. It has been a while since i had a process done.
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
Update?
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I've been working with Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center. They basically shrugged off the comment from Washington State University about the high oil content. I also spoke with the Washington State Department of Agriculture and they seemed perplexed that anyone say they couldn't test because of high oil content.

OSU Food Innovation Center does food R&D and not a process authority. But I plan to use a co-packer. So OSU is doing the all testing and setting me up with everything I need to take to a co-packer.

They just did the basic testing for PH, water activity and Brix. Not sure what Brix is but am scheduled to have a consultation with them to get all the context. Next they'll be doing a short kitchen session to determine optimal time/temperature parameters based on my recipe and acified food regulations, and ensuring my recipe is in a weight based format that a co-packer needs to scale production.

Here are the basic testing results in case anyone is curious or has comments.
  • 0.949 Aw
  • 37.11% Brix
  • pH 3.41
Not sure why that looks like a quote. I copy pasted from my email.
 
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Update:
Can't say enough about my positive experiences with Oregon State University's Food Innovation Center in Portland. They performed a half-day R&D kitchen session and provided me with 4 different versions of my sauce by tweaking the production process at key steps. Very happy with the results.

They also put me in touch with a former OSU professor who now operates as the Oregon process authority. He was able to rely on the lab testing done by the FIC and provided me with a PA letter.

Moving closer to production with a co-packer!
 
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MarFar, if you are still around, would you mind sending info on the PA? I have a new item to get licensed. You can send by DM if that feels more comfortable. Thanks.
SL
 
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salsalady said:
MarFar, if you are still around, would you mind sending info on the PA? I have a new item to get licensed. You can send by DM if that feels more comfortable. Thanks.
SL
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Yes I'm still around. Some life happened that put things on delay but I'm still pushing forward.

The PA info is: Mark Daeschel at Food Safety Assessments LLC.

You should send him an email to both the following emails:

mark.daeschel@oregonstate.edu
foodsafetyassessments@gmail.com

Let me know if you need anything more.
 
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