Bakery Sanitation Program

Does anyone have a good sanitation program that is complaint to SQF for a bakery? I need a good procedure for dry cleaning. Also, how do you prove effectiveness of sanitation for dry cleaning? In the meat industry ATP is typically used - what is used in bakery industry? Thanks. Jessica

I've been working in bakeries for 35 years, typically we use APC or TPC to determine how clean a surface is for quarterly micro testing verifying cleaning effectiveness... in dry cleaning (like flour) we depend on "visually inspected" for the day to day operator cleaning inspection or after sanitation department routine cleaning.  Inspect and document the inspection should suffice.

 

Flour tends to get "buggy" pretty quick if not properly cleaned (removed), but the "it's not buggy" so it must be clean method went out about 25 years ago.  :-)

 

Phil

Thank you very much Phil. Do you have an SSOP for a dry clean that you would be willing to share? Jessica

Here is an example of dry cleaning a donut line that gets lots of flour on it daily. :-)

 

It's pretty old but you get the idea.

 

Hope it helps.

 

Phil

Hello Phil,

I'm interested in the same solutions Jess was looking for so I read this conversation and opened the SSOP.

It says in the end that you use Chemicals and Sanitizers. But that's not the case when you do a dry cleaning. Is it?

Also, what do you mean by APC or TPC, as method to test cleaninless? 

We are brainstorming on a good and affordable method to verify allergen cleaninless on our facility, but so far we are just using expensive allergen swabs after sanitation of our lines.  

Any other ideas to tune up our Allergen Program? 

Thanks!

Paolo

Hello Phil,

I'm interested in the same solutions Jess was looking for so I read this conversation and opened the SSOP.

It says in the end that you use Chemicals and Sanitizers. But that's not the case when you do a dry cleaning. Is it?

Also, what do you mean by APC or TPC, as method to test cleaninless? 

We are brainstorming on a good and affordable method to verify allergen cleaninless on our facility, but so far we are just using expensive allergen swabs after sanitation of our lines.  

Any other ideas to tune up our Allergen Program? 

Thanks!

Paolo

 

Hi Paolo,

 

Thks yr questions and Welcome to the Forum ! :welcome:

 

APC usually = aerobic plate count

TPC usually = total plate count

 

APC usually = TPC for the current context

 

Re-allergens - Yr current procedure is probably the Gold standard. Other methods are in use but their acceptability may depend on the product/process and, for example, whether a specific audit standard is involved, eg -

 

AIB - allergen cleaning validation - 7allergen.pdf   140.76KB   296 downloads

 

There are a few bakers on this forum so more thoughts may be coming soon.

Short and sweet dry cleaning for bakery:

 Brush or vacuum gross flour/dough. Use compressed air to remove flour/dough from hard to reach areas. Wipe down with cloths wetted with sanitizer.

 

As far as allergens go. Swabs are the accepted industry standard. 

It may cost more up front, but you can send out the first product that hits the cleaned line for testing.

If tests come back showing no allergen contamination in the product, your cleaning process/procedure is (theoretically) verified.

I would still do swabs once and a while just to make sure the process is still working correctly.

 

Marshall

Thank you both very much Marshal and Charles! :)

Very helpful indications to tackle our Allergen Control Program the right way.

On this same note, and sticking with my industry, I wonder how big industrial bakeries can deal with lots of allergens in the plant...

Let's say you have 4 or 5 different allergens (beside wheat of course) and you run 24 hours with 3 shifts... 

How an effective Allergen Control Program can be performed, if you are forced to dry clean and have still to perform cleaning verification tasks through swabbing? There's so many equipment along the production chain to be tested and verified..

Do the big industries have a huge Sanitation team to stop and clean the production chain or they have just as many dedicated lines as numbers of allergen in the plant?? 

Thank you so much to address my concerns! The allergen program can be very tricky in dry food facilities... :helpplease: 

Best,

 

Paolo

Hi Paolo,

 

It's not my direct area but the bakery people here will probably need an idea of yr actual process to be able to make specific comments, eg inputs / outputs / number lines ?

 

There have been 1-3 previous threads here where a bakery was running several consecutive products, each  with numerous varying/overlapping allergens in ingredients on the same line.

 

The allergen cleaning solution there was helped by a matrix-type SOP which organized product sequencing / swabbing.

 

It depends on how complex yr process is.

Thanks Charles,

I looked up to another couple of threads on this blog and found something useful already.

I understand that production planning/scheduling must be the northern star to avoid stop & clean every time.

Nonetheless when i comes to a busy bakery with both a fresh and a frozen program, like the one where I work, this is not always possible or predictable.  :oops2: 

I'm now looking at the most efficient and less time consuming way to clean our lines for a effective product change-over routine. 

When it comes to a cloth conveyor, hopper or retarding baskets how would you ensure an effective dry cleaning procedure, able to pass the swab test? Any thoughts? 

If you don't want to purchase an expensive ELISA kit, able to look for the specific allergen, how would you dry-clean as deeper as possible and able to pass the swab test with gluten from flour everywhere around you? 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Paolo

Thanks Charles,

(1) When it comes to a cloth conveyor, hopper or retarding baskets how would you ensure an effective dry cleaning procedure, able to pass the swab test? Any thoughts? 

(2) If you don't want to purchase an expensive ELISA kit, able to look for the specific allergen, how would you dry-clean as deeper as possible and able to pass the swab test with gluten from flour everywhere around you? 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Paolo

 

Hi Paolo,

 

No.1 - Sorry, no idea what 2/3 actually are. Not in the dry or bakery business. Maybe post 7 ?

 

No.2 - The pragmatic answer may be that it all depends on yr objective, eg who is going to audit/certify yr process/FS system and, more specifically, what is their requirements ?

 

A variety of methods are in routine use for validating/verifying "Cleaning" ,eg visual, ATP, protein, ELISA, PCR so all these methods are clearly adequate for some purposes.

 

Unfortunately only a few methods like ELISA are specific for allergens. Perhaps you get what you pay for,  but the question is what do you actually need ?

 

http://www.ift.org/f...px?page=viewall

 

http://www.elisa-tek.com/ez-gluten/

Thanks Charles,

I looked up to another couple of threads on this blog and found something useful already.

I understand that production planning/scheduling must be the northern star to avoid stop & clean every time.

Nonetheless when i comes to a busy bakery with both a fresh and a frozen program, like the one where I work, this is not always possible or predictable.  :oops2: 

I'm now looking at the most efficient and less time consuming way to clean our lines for a effective product change-over routine. 

When it comes to a cloth conveyor, hopper or retarding baskets how would you ensure an effective dry cleaning procedure, able to pass the swab test? Any thoughts? 

If you don't want to purchase an expensive ELISA kit, able to look for the specific allergen, how would you dry-clean as deeper as possible and able to pass the swab test with gluten from flour everywhere around you? 

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Paolo

It's difficult to offer any specific suggestions without knowing your actual equipment/layout/process.

 

Cloth conveyors are a BAD thing. There is no way to effectively (and efficiently) dry clean them for allergen removal. You may have to consider other materials that are more sanitation friendly.

 

Is it possible to have spare hoppers or retarding baskets (proofer trays, cups)? That way you could swap out with clean items.

 

You are correct that smart line scheduling is a key component. But I realize that is not always a possibility. In that case, you will need to bite the bullet and buy the expensive test kits, and determine the areas that are failing allergen cleaning. You then have to quantify how much time it takes to clean these areas, thus possibly justifying the cost of swap out conveyors, etc. (Compared to line down time, wasted production labor, etc.)

 

Marshall

On my bakery sanitation is fighting with QA about dry cleaning. Our APC samples came from the lab with a good number.

Can someone talk more about the dry cleaning on Bakery (No allergen problems)?

 

Thank you

Miguel