MERCK, the oldest pharmaceuticals and Life Science Company that is still functioning, has pharmaceuticals, life science, and specialty chemicals portfolio. At the Dairy Industry Expo 2019, the company represented its bio monitoring business segment which offers micro biological solutions to food, pharma, dairy, and beverage industry for complete quality control from microbiological point of view. Dairy products call for particular care, as they have a high risk of contamination.
Machine Maker had a conversation with Mr. Parag Vachhani, Product Marketing Manager – Environmental Monitoring Bio Monitoring, MERCK, who explained the significance of micro biological solutions, “The challenge with milk is it has a very low shelf-life. They cannot keep it for three or four days, unlike other products, and they also have to be careful about processing it. That’s where we come in.”
Merck is a legendary name whose origin dates back centuries when Friedrich Jacob Merck founded the company in Darmstadt, Germany in 1668. It is a truly a global company with its branches in countries across the world. There are many ways in which MERCK has improved the quality and processes of dairy production; their products are quality-assured, and the safety standards they maintain are inimitable. There is a practice in the market called “Quality Management System,” and MERCK strictly adheres to this rule with its “Quality-by-design” concept which is secret behind their success.
Quality-by-design is a catchall for ensuring good quality control practices, such as checking raw materials and processes perfectly. MERCK implements HACCP principles to check all possible hazards. A complete quality check ensures the quality of the finished product is standard. MERCK supports dairy industry with sample preparations, hygiene monitoring of the entire process plant and rapid detection of system, providing solutions for microbiological quality control.
“We are representing two products. One product is the MVP ICON – HACCP Management Redefined. This is a rapid hygiene monitoring system.” In the dairy industry, hygiene is crucial, as quality will be utterly useless if there is even a speck of contamination anywhere. “Just mopping is not enough. [Our] system gives results within minutes.”
Parag Vachhani
Product Marketing Manager – Environmental Monitoring Bio Monitoring, Merck Life Science Pvt Ltd
The core component of the system is an instrument called the Luminometer, which is used to detect adenosine tri-phosphate, or ATP, a chemical present in all biotic components including bacteria. If cleaning is not proper and there are traces of stray bacteria, they can be detected immediately. In this way, the safety of the storage facility can be ascertained.
The other solution is Assurance GDC system that MERCK uses for genetic detection of food pathogens. Milk is a carrier for certain pathogens that produce ravaging diseases. The Salmonella species, for instance, are responsible for a number of serious illnesses. Salmonella typhi, which cause enteric fever are often found in contaminated milk. To prevent the growth of such pathogens, processing plants use a systematic detection method, but it is time-consuming. The traditional method for detecting Salmonella typhi takes up to seven days.
Again, MERCK comes to the rescue here. “We have come up with the latest genetic-based advanced detection of salmonella using the PCR technique.” The technique is based on polymerized chain reactions technique. MERCK prepares the sample, and then go for the method, which is completed in a day, saving almost 70% of time. And time is a critical factor in the dairy industry.
At a time when the dairy industry is diversifying, MERCK is up to its neck in work. The dairy industry uses many storage sites, and hygiene is a must; if one storage vessel is not clean, the entire volume of milk will be contaminated when added up.
“We can avoid such risks by implementing the best hygiene practices. We are also working with some of the government agencies such as FSSAI, to create hygiene awareness in India,” says Parag, signing off.
For more details visit www.merckgroup.com
