Food Control 15 (2004) 341349 www.elsevier.

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A method for the analysis and control of sensory properties during processingapplication to the dry sausage process
C. Curt
a

a,*

, G. Trystram b, H. Nogueira-Terrones c, J. Hossenlopp

UMR Gnie Industriel Alimentaire (Cemagref, ENSIA, INAPG, INRA), Equipe Automatique et Qualit Alimentaire, Cemagref, e e 24 avenue des Landais, BP 50085, 63172 AUBIERE Cedex, France b UMR Gnie Industriel Alimentaire (Cemagref, ENSIA, INAPG, INRA), ENSIA, 1, av des Olympiades, 91744 Massy, France e c Instituto Tecnologico de Tuxtepec, Dr. Victor Bravo A. s/n, Colonia 5 de Mayo, CP 68350, Tuxtepec, Oaxaca, Mexico Received 11 October 2002; received in revised form 26 April 2003; accepted 28 April 2003

Abstract The sensory quality of a food comes from the combination of a set of parameters concerning all the steps of product life, from the raw materials to the conditions of preparation at home. We focus on manufacturing conditions and propose a method for the control of a set of sensory properties and defects whose variations must be kept within prescribed tolerances. This method entails, rstly, the identication of causes of variations of sensory quality, i.e., the denition of the scenarios leading to defects or faulty properties; secondly, the determination of control methods used by the factory, i.e., the corrective actions used to avoid or eliminate a defect or a deviation of a sensory property; and thirdly, the proposal of a strategy for improving sensory quality control. The method is illustrated by dry sausage manufacturing in two dierent factories. In both, the method enables proposing the improvement of sensory quality control, i.e., by a formal description of the skill concerning process control possessed by operators. A control system based on this formalized knowledge was implemented. 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Sensory quality; Process control; Dry sausage; Human decision

1. Introduction Customers require products with characteristics that satisfy their needs and expectations. Quality management systems were developed to enhance customer satisfaction through analysis of customer requirements, denition of processes that contribute to the achievement of a product which is acceptable to the customer and control of these processes (NF EN ISO 9000, 2000; NF EN ISO 9001, 2000; NF EN ISO 9004, 2000). Moreover, the published document (FD X 50-176, 2000) presents guidelines to help organizations with the display of the process management approach advocated in the ISO 9000 series. The requirements dened in NF EN ISO 9001 (2000) do not concern products: requirements for products can be established by customers or by

Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-4-7344-0664; fax: +33-4-73440697. E-mail address: corinne.curt@cemagref.fr (C. Curt). 0956-7135/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0956-7135(03)00084-7

regulation for example. In the food industry, the requirements for products typically include various components: it implies in particular safety, sensory and nutritional characteristics. These characteristics must be kept under-control. Various tools have been developed to control food safety that is a compulsory requirement for selling a food. Specic standards for various kinds of food and international, basic texts on food hygiene were published by the Codex Alimentarius Commission: they describe general principles of food hygiene, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System (Codex Alimentarius, 1999b) and principles and guidelines concerning microbiological aspects (Codex Alimentarius, 1997, 1999a). The HACCP-based approach is recommended as a means to enhance food safety. Firstly, this allows the identication and assessment of the health hazards associated with the manufacture, distribution and use of a food product; secondly, the denition of the means necessary for their control; thirdly, the proof that every precaution has been taken

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to avoid the problems identied (Codex Alimentarius, 1999b). The HACCP concept has been applied to various products (Mauropoulos & Arvanitoyannis, 1999): chilled and refrigerated foods, seafood, meat and poultry, milk and milk products. Sensory quality is another food products characteristics: it is one of the main components that attracts the consumer. Sensory quality comes in a variety of forms: aspect, avour, odour, texture etc., with each of them being multidimensional. Firms must maintain the consistency of this component of quality: variations of a set of properties and defects must be kept within prescribed tolerances. The sensory quality of a food stems from the combination of a set of parameters concerning processing conditions, i.e., the raw materials, the recipe and the process, with possible combined eects, distribution and storage conditions, and preparation conditions at home. However, the inuence of the manufacturing step is the main parameter: it is the reasoned succession of unit operations associated with a recipe that leads towards generating the products sensory characteristics. As a consequence, quality must be managed at plant level. Classically three combined approaches are used to control the quality of a food product at this level. The rst control step is related to the formulation (recipe). The second is concerned with process design and consists in the choice and the calculation of the dimensions of unit operations. The third, based on process control during the manufacture, concerns all the manufacturing steps, from the receipt of raw materials to packaging. This paper deals with the third approach. One diculty encountered in this approach is determining the origins of the loss of sensory quality. This determination is crucial for developing relevant control at pertinent control points. This stage is complex since numerous causes are at play with possible interactions between them. Moreover, methods such as experimental planning can allow for identication of the processs inuence on sensory characteristics but not their control. Studies concerning the control of sensory properties, albeit not numerous, have already been carried out at a unit operation (Davidson, Brown, & Landman, 1999; Perrot et al., 2000). By contrast, no study currently takes into consideration the determination of the origins of the loss of sensory quality on the whole manufacturing line. This paper aims at developing such a method (Section 2). We present the results concerning the application of this method to two dry sausage factories. We briey present at the end of Section 3 the sensory properties control system implemented in both the factories studied. It is based on the formal description of the sensory evaluations carried out by operators directly on the production line (Curt, Trystram, & Hossenlopp, 2001) and on modelling the human actions on process variables (Curt, Hossenlopp, Perrot, & Trystram, 2002).

2. Method for the determination of the origins of the loss of sensory quality during processing The method for the determination of the origins of loss of sensory quality during processing aims at, rstly, the identication of sensory quality variations causes, i.e., the denition of the scenarios leading to defects or faulty properties; secondly, the determination of control measures used by the factory, i.e., corrective actions used to avoid or eliminate a defect or a deviation of a sensory property; and, thirdly, the proposal of a strategy to improve sensory quality control during processing. All the stages, from the reception of the raw materials to the packaging, are concerned with the analysis, since they are likely to impact on sensory quality. The activity, size and mode of organization of the rm and the type of resources the rm wants to use are taken into account in the denition of the improvement strategy. We consider that the analysis should involve a team composed of operators of the manufacturing line, of the quality manager and of an observer, i.e., a person in charge to collect and formalise the knowledge hold by operators and experts: the involvement of local employees in the study is a key-point: the production sta plays a major role in the control of sensory quality. The process control often relies on the operators because classical control approaches can only rarely be used in food processes due in particular to the lack of real-time, reliable, instrumental sensors, which limits available information on the product, and to poor understanding of the interactions between food and process. Operators and experts possess the most accurate knowledge about working conditions, the limits of the process and changes of the product as it is processed. The quality manager can supply information about the defects detected on nal products; the participation of an external observer with theoretical and practical knowledge of food process engineering and food science is a major point to facilitate communication with operators and experts. These competences allow in particular the identication of the area of expertise, and the acquisition of technical vocabulary in order to establish an easier relationship with the employees. This is a valuable asset providing understanding between the experts and operators. The proposed approach is qualitative. It is based on the construction of cause and eect diagrams (see Fig. 1 as an example) compiled from the collection and organisation of existing knowledge. The knowledge stemming from the literature and the practical knowledge from the manufacturing line are two complementary information sources. Their combination is a relevant

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343

Raw materials
Sugars
e bl tta en e rm rt y r r Fe ope F p pr e n os nt tro ale ex a D quiiv Eq

Lean meat
e e yp Ty p pH

Casing
e e re eg D fatt k iic Th of

Ripening
et ry at io at io om D ur pe r til at u

Colour (red hue)

re

Stuffing
H o th mo e e ge xt ne er ity na o ls f ow in g

Mixing
D ur at io n

Rest before stuffing

ur at io n m pe ra tu re

Fig. 1. Cause and eect diagram for colour characteristics.

Assessment stage
Factory visit

Scientific and technical literature

Observations and interviews (5W2H Method)

Te

Process

Intermediate recordings

Knowledge collection and formalization

Final structuring of the cause and effect diagrams

Establishing of the control means

Proposal for an evaluation and control system of the sensory risk

Secondly, a collection and formalization cycle is performed by the observer. This phase consists of an analysis of the work at the dierent locations in the plant based on observations and interviews. Before beginning this phase, the objectives of the study were explained to the personnel in order to mobilize, motivate and implicate them in this analysis. To collect all the necessary information, we drew our inspiration from the 5W2H method (Juse, 1993): the questions asked to the operators begin with, Why? What? Where? When? Who? How? How much? At the end of each collection session, an intermediate formal description enables the synthesis of the collected information and the preparation of the next session. It is also a way to motivate the operators interviewed and provide feedback. Table 1 presents an example of the information collected using this method. It concerns the addition of ingredients during the mixing of the dry sausage batter. Thirdly, the nal structuring of the relationships of cause and eect is schematised in Ishikawa diagrams (Ishikawa, 1986), taking into account separately two main origins: the process and the ingredients. Each diagram is drawn up for one sensory property and for a given factory: they allow the identication of the raw materials and/or the processing operations that must be controlled to manage the sensory characteristics. This kind of representation does not highlight the probable interactions between the various parameters. Fourthly, the control resources implemented in the factory are drawn up individually for each factory. The factorys specicities are underscored particularly through the following elements: control resources concerning the raw materials: specications, checking modes for the compliance of the raw materials with the specications; process control: availability of procedures describing the tasks of operators at the dierent stages, process control mode, kinds of measurement, types of control carried out at each stage, presence of local experts; nal product control: availability of laboratory measurements (internal or external), traceability system, etc. Finally, on the basis of these information, an analysis of the suitability of the control means for controlling sensory properties is lead and a relevant evaluation and control system are proposed and implemented.

H yg r

V en

Fig. 2. Method for knowledge collection and structuring.

way of successfully establishing and customising cause and eect relations for a given process in each factory. The available knowledge can be explicit knowledge, i.e., formalized or tacit knowledge, i.e., tting with individual and collective skills (Grundstein & Barths, 1996). e The evaluation and control stages following this rst stage will be quantitative. The collection and structuring method we propose includes four stages (cf. Fig. 2). Firstly, a visit of the factory is carried out by the observer to get to know the production unit, its personnel and its operation.

Table 1 5W2H methodapplication to the mixing operation during the dry sausage manufacture What Addition of spices, sugar, starter cultures and nitrate Why Allow and control fermentation. Flavour the product Where In the batter during the mixing When At the beginning of the mixing Who The operator in charge of the mixer How The ingredients are poured over the whole surface of the batter How much In accordance with the recipe

Te m

ng in n ez n re io Fr uratt d

ss ne

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3. Application to the dry sausage process Two rms (called Factory 1 and Factory 2) were studied. 3.1. Material Fresh pieces of pork meat (Factory 1) or frozen pieces of pork meat (Factory 2) and frozen pork fat were rst mixed with salt, pepper and spices. This mixture was then minced in a 7 mm diameter mincer. Spices, sugar, starter cultures and nitrate were added and the batter was mixed again. It was then stued in natural casings (weight of fresh sausage: Factory 1 480 g, Factory 2 550 g) and plunged into a Penicillium solution. The sausages are fermented for about 40 h (1126 C, 54 90% RH) in Factory 1 and for about 70 h (1325 C, 50 75% RH) in Factory 2. They are then dried for 4 weeks (13 C, 78% RH), brushed, talcked and packed. 3.2. Relationships of cause and eect The relationships of cause and eect have been established for various sensory properties commonly encountered in dry sausage manufacture (Rozier, 1969; Rozier & Durand, 1970): sensory characteristics able to suer changes beyond tolerance: colour, rmness, formation of aroma and odours; the following defects: sticky defect, fat smearing, hollow centre defect, dry-edge defect and acid defect. To draw the cause and eect diagrams, several hypotheses were formulated. For the raw materials, we consider that the formulation is xed, the casing diameter always belongs to the same category, the composition of starter cultures, sugars, salt and spices is constant, and the raw materials are microbiologically safe and are kept under conditions that guarantee this property. The conformity of these characteristics are guaranteed by the suppliers or veried by the factory. We consider the operators carry out their task in accordance with the instructions developed in the quality assurance system. These instructions are drawn up in order that the operators perform the right actions and follow the recommended sequence of tasks. The conformity of the task is veried by the quality manager, for example, by using a form lled in by the operators. Two examples of cause and eect relationships are described below: the diagram for the colour and the diagram for the hollow centre defect. The cause and eect relationships for all the sensory properties are then presented in a summary table.

3.2.1. Colour During the fermentation stage, the sausage turns red due to the production of nitrosomyoglobin, which results from combining nitrogen oxide, from the bacterial conversion of nitrate or nitrite, with a muscular protein, myoglobin. The product darkens even more as drying progresses. The colour changes are linked to: the transformation of nitrate salts by the starter cultures linked to bacterial growth which depends on (Dabin & Jussiaux, 1994; Lcke, 1986; Vsgen, u o 1994):  sugars: fermentable property;  the temperature and Aw within the product and consequently on the conditions of rest before stuing and on the ripening conditions (duration, temperature, hygrometry, ventilation);  the thickness and the degree of fat of the casings. The casing constitutes an interface between the batter and the surrounding atmosphere for mass and heat transfer. It plays a major role in bacterial growth; thick casings limit water exchange which acts on growth of starter cultures and on the consecutive reactions; the formation reaction of the nitrosomyoglobin, which depends on:  the myoglobin content, which decreases with the freezing duration of the meat;  the pH and consequently on the meat pH which must be low (5.55.8) and on the conditions of microorganism growth;  the starter culture distribution linked to the mixing duration: it must be homogeneous in order to obtain a uniform colour change within the product. The cause and eect diagram for the colour characteristic is shown in Fig. 1. In the diagram dedicated to Factory 1, the freezing duration will be removed, since only fresh meat is used in this factory.

3.2.2. Hollow centre defect The hollow centre defect arises from sausage swelling, external mould defects, and faulty colours such as brown streaks (Rozier, 1969; Rozier & Durand, 1970). The product does not become rm but is tough at the surface. Breaks can be distinguished on the slice, these breaks turn yellow under the inuence of fat oxidation or turn brown as a result of metmyoglobin formation. Moulds can grow in these breaks. This defect has several origins (Rozier, 1969; Rozier & Durand, 1970) presented in Fig. 3: bad protein solubilization: use of lean meat with denatured proteins (exsudative meats or long freezing duration), duration too short between salting and acidication, insucient salt content;

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Raw materials
Lean meat

Ripening

Hollow centre defect

Te m pe ra V tu ac re uu m le ve l

D ur at io n V en til at io n H yg ro m et ry Te m pe ra tu re

Stuffing

Dry-edge defect

Rest before stuffing

D ur at io

Te m pe r

at ur e

defects have many origins. This situation makes the management of sensory property dicult. One solution consists in determining the control points in sensory terms, i.e., the raw materials and/or the processing operations that must be controlled to manage the sensory property. In the two factories, the same causes are identied for a given eect. This similarity is logical as the two processes are not very dierent and the action variables are the same. All the process stages and the raw materials have an eect on sensory properties and defects: some of them act specically on one characteristic or one defect. For example, the mincing stage plays a major role in the occurrence of the sticky defect; others, in particular lean meat, casing and ripening conditions, act on almost all the characteristics and defects. Moreover, the relationships recorded close to the operators, the experts and the quality manager in the factories are similar to those described in the literature. We can state that the factory personnel is well-aware of the cause and eect relationships: for instance, operators are conscious that the characteristics of the fat, the degree of trimming, the grinding state of the knives, and the mixing duration are important for the occurrence of the fat smearing defect. 3.3. Control means determination Operators and quality managers have developed control measures concerning raw materials (cf. Table 3) and the process (cf. Table 4) that aim at controlling sensory characteristics and defects. This kind of tables enables the underscoring of incomplete controlled eects. Concerning the raw materials, an initial means of control is the requirements that link the factory with its raw materials suppliers. In the same way, factories have developed a set of controls at reception. They are conceived in order to check some of the specications. The more numerous controls are performed on lean meats and casings because they present high intrinsic variability. Two means of control are used in the factories: instrumental measurements, especially pH and temperature measurements, and sensory evaluations such as colour, the degree of trimming carried out by the operators when they receive the meats. They are the same in the two factories and are carried out using similar operating conditions. Information is partially written down on forms. For a certain number of properties, the factories assume that the raw materials present the required characteristics: this is the case of the degree of fat lipolysis, which is supposed to be low, or the

io at a al iin iti m In nta n c co tt e ea m n

Fig. 3. Cause and eect diagram for the hollow centre defect.

poor binding ability of the batter due to lack of acidication: fermentation is not performed or it is carried out at too low a temperature, starter culture content is insucient or it competes with other microorganisms, sugar content is too low; late-stung: if stung is carried out after presalting and above all after over-long resting of the batter or at excessive temperature during which the proteins are partially coagulated, the gel is broken and cannot be reformed; stung carried out at too low a temperature when: the components of the batter are tough, the lling is not consistent and holes and air inclusions occur. This can lead to oxidation, mould development and rancidity phenomena; over-rapid drying (excessive temperature, excessive hygrometry, over-severe ventilation): this can lead to the formation of ssures and holes. A supercial, sti layer is formed: each piece retracts independently from the others, which produces ssures. The adaptations of the theoretical diagrams are identical for the two factories in the case of the hollow centre defect. They concern on the one hand, the removal of the vacuum level because the stung machine works under vacuum and on the other hand, the absence of microbiological contaminations (cf. Fig. 3). 3.2.3. Discussion Table 2 synthesizes the consequences of the raw materials and the process variables on the sensory characteristics and defects of the dry sausage. It presents the relationships between the raw materials and unit operations and the sensory properties or defects without giving each characteristic of a type of raw material or unit operation involved in these relationships. This level of detail is given in the cause and eect diagrams. Table 2 shows that whatever the case, sensory properties or

SE PS

Process

pe ty

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Table 2 Cause and eect relationships for sensory properties and defects during dry sausage manufacture

Effect Colour

Texture (firmness)

Aroma

Sticky defect

Fat smearing

Dry-edge Hollow Acid defect centre defect defect

Cause
Lean meat Fat Sugars Salt Spices External mould Casing Mincing Mixing Rest before stuffing Stuffing External sowing with Penicillium Ripening Packaging

fermentable property of sugars assumed to be adapted to the starter culture used. The means for controlling the raw materials developed in the two factories are very close and match the recommendations made in technical books (Dabin & Jussiaux, 1994; Migaud & Frentz, 1978). Table 4 lists process control means. Various types can be distinguished: checks of the equipment, such as the grinding state of cutting tools (mincer knives and grids); instructions and forms to ll in: these constitute means of controlling human error and ulterior checking means; process piloting: some process parameters are xed at mixing duration in Factory 2. Certain unit operations are driven: mincing, mixing and ripening (fermentation and drying). Operators pilot these operations by carrying out:

 only sensory measurements directly on the line. Some of them are the same for the two factories, others are specic to a factory. Thus, the same gesture is used to appraise the fat piece size. Conversely, each factory uses a specic procedure to assess the binding ability of the batter; no instrumental measurements are performed during the processing;  decisions and actions on the process parameters when the operator detects, through sensory evaluations, that the product does not change correctly. The actions carried out on process parameters are very close in the two factories; the packaging operation can be considered as a checking means: operators perform an inspection of products, mainly visual, and can eliminate or downgrade products that do not have the required properties.

C. Curt et al. / Food Control 15 (2004) 341349 Table 3 Control means concerning the raw materials used in dry sausage manufacture Control meansFactory 1 Lean meat Type: pale soft exsudative (PSE) or dark rm dry (DFD) pH Trimming degree (internal fat and connective tissue) Freezing duration Enzyme content Unsaturation degree Lipolysis degree Sugars Dextrose equivalent Fermentable property External mould Casing Enzyme content Thickness Fatless Visual examination carried out by operators pH measurement Visual examination carried out by operators Not measured Not measuredsupposed to be low Not measuredsupposed to be low Not measuredsupposed to be adapted to starter cultures Not measuredsupposed to be adapted to starter cultures Not measured Visual examination carried out by operators Visual examination carried out by operators Control meansFactory 2 Visual examination carried out by operators Not measured Visual examination carried out by operators Checking carried out by operators Not measured Not measuredsupposed to be low Not measuredsupposed to be low

347

Fat

Not measuredsupposed to be adapted to starter cultures Not measuredsupposed to be adapted to starter cultures Not measured Visual examination carried out by operators Visual examination carried out by operators

Table 4 Control means concerning the process stages during dry sausage manufacture Control meansFactory 1 Mincing Temperature Rate State of mincing tools Temperature Duration Temperature Duration Temperature State of stung tools Temperature, Duration, Hygrometry, Ventilation Prior control: storage in a cooling room Driven by operators Checking carried out by operators Control by the mixing duration Run by operators Prior control: storage in a cooling room Depends on the production Prior control: storage in a cooling room Checking carried out by operators Driven by operators Control meansFactory 2 Prior control: storage in a cooling room Driven by operators Checking carried out by operators Control by a xed mixing duration Fixed Prior control: storage in a cooling room Fixed Prior control: storage in a cooling room Checking carried out by operators Driven by operators

Mixing Rest before stung Stung Ripening

Packaging

Product elimination downgrading

Product elimination downgrading

The skill possessed by the operators constitutes essential knowledge for the control of sensory quality during the manufacture of the dry sausage in both factories. However, this knowledge is seldom formally documented and it belongs to only a few operators or experts for certain operations, such as the ripening. The loss of the skill necessary to control fermentation can be considered as the loss of the ability to manage sensory quality related to the product. 3.4. Proposal for the improvement of sensory quality control during processing Drawing up a formal description of the skill possessed by operators is a means of stabilizing the process

and transmitting critical knowledge to other operators. Among all the operations, ripening has an inuence on almost all sensory properties and defects (cf. Table 4). Ripening is composed of two stages: fermentation and drying. Fermentation is considered by scientists and factory experts as a critical control point for sensory properties (Dabin & Jussiaux, 1994; Dametto, 1999; Girard, 1988; Rozier, 1969). Indeed, fermentation entails (cf. Fig. 4): starter culture growth leading to a set of physical and chemical changes; partial drying that must be controlled. A certain amount of water in the product must be eliminated by using an appropriate drying velocity. Fermentation

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Causes
Nitrate/Nitrite Spices

Phenomena

Effects

Germs selection and inhibition

Lactic bacteria growth

Fermentation acidification Nitrate reduction Toxins production Catalase production

Aroma development Colour changes

Temperature Hygrometry

Lipolysis, proteolysis Dehydratation Aw decrease

Rancidity limitation

Texture changes

External mould growth

Size changes

Salt
Protein solubilisation
Casing changes

Fig. 4. Cause and eect of the main phenomena occurring during dry sausage manufacture.

progresses correctly if the water eliminated at the surface of the casing is mostly compensated by internal water migration (Daudin, Kondjoyan, & Sirami, 1992). In this case, the various reactions typical of fermentation will occur correctly: growth of lactic starter cultures, acidication, reduction of nitrite salts, proteolysis and lipolysis, production of toxins leading to the inhibition of certain harmful microorganisms. The improvement proposal deals with the formal description and the transmission of the control loop. It is composed of two elements: the ability to assess changes of the product thanks to human senses and the operators decisions and actions. This formal description was carried out within the two factories and has led to the development of the sensory indicator concept (Curt et al., 2001) and the implementation of a decision-aid system for the fermentation operation (Curt et al., 2002) that permits the control of sensory quality during processing. One condition for success is that all the operators have the same references when carrying out the measurement: faulty actions can otherwise be proposed by the decision-aid system. Consequently, the training of the future users is important to correctly use the interface: a method for training operators to the use of sen-

sory indicators was developed with this aim (Curt et al., 2001).

4. Conclusion We propose a method that deals with the determination origins of the loss of sensory quality during processing in a food industry. In this method: all the operations are taken into consideration; the employees are very involved; the cause and eect diagrams are qualitative; the existing control means concerning raw materials and process are assessed.

In this paper, we proceeded by collecting and making a formal description of knowledge. Other ways exist such as experimental planning that can also allow the quantication of relationships between processing parameters and nal sensory properties. This method has led to the improvement of sensory quality control for each factory. This problematic is of general interest in the food industry and other industries such as cosmetics. Here, the means of control consist of formalizing essential knowledge. It comprises the ability

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to assess and control the properties of an intermediate product. Of course, this formalization assumes that this skill is available. Other proposals are possible: for instance, the implementation of raw materials checking procedures or the development of an automatic control loop, in the case where the rm does not possess any particular skill or when it wants to privilege automation. This analysis only concerns the sensory level. It must not be forgotten that the quality of a food is multidimensional: it includes various properties such as safety and nutrition. Moreover, the process must correctly work: fault diagnosis methods aim at eliminating malfunctions that may occur in sensors, actuators, control system, etc. (Genovesi, Harmand, & Steyer, 1999; Isermann, 1997; Leonhardt & Ayoubi, 1997). Among them, the Failure Mode and Eects Analysis (FMEA) methodology permits the identication of the failures which could have undesired eects on system operation (Khan & Abbasi, 1998). It has been widely used in aerospace, nuclear, chemical process and automotive industries. The development of a method combining human reliability analysis, fault diagnosis, the HACCP system and sensory property control would allow taking into account both food quality and working reliability. A recent study has described a rst study of multiple characteristics control by the integration of FMEA with HACCP in a wafer biscuit production line (Scipioni, Saccarola, Centazzo, & Arena, 2002).

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the French Ministry of Agriculture for its nancial support of this project and ADITVA, Entreprises Philis and Polette Salaisons for their greatly appreciated co-operation.

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