Evaluación del grado de cumplimiento de las BPM en la industria cervecera artesanal de la Región de los Ríos

Abstract

The compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) was assessed in 73% of traditionalbreweries in the Region of Los Rios, most of them (84%) members of the “Union de Cerveceros LosRios (UCR)”, without previous records.A “Check list” containing the guidelines of the Chilean Ministry of Health to evaluate food industriesand allow their operation was used. This guideline includes: installation, cleaning, sanitation, pestcontrol, personnel hygiene, training, raw materials, processes and finished products; it was only usedas a reference since the brewing industry must comply with the regulations set up by the Agriculturaland Livestock Service. In addition, an additional guideline was included to report geographicallocation, production and sales, among others; in order to obtain a general characterization of theindustry in the Region.Out of the surveyed industries, 12 (55%) are located in urban areas, and 10 (45%) in rural areas. Themajority are Micro Breweries (63%), divided mainly in Micro 3 (36%) and Micro 1 (27%) accordingto the classification of the Tax Administration (SII) service in Chile.Only 18% of the industries comply with GMP in 70% or more, which highlights the importance ofsupporting initiatives that are currently being developed in these industries in the Region of LosRios, to improve production and consolidate market presence. The best evaluated item was “finishedproducts and processes” (73%), adequate storage conditions of the product was highlighted, and theworst “training” (10.2%), mainly in hygienic food handling, and equipment cleaning and sanitation.