1 reply to this topic

[Jeronkey]

Hi guys!

I work in a premix factory. We blend various premixes for the baking industry. Now, I figured this might be an interesting topic for discussion. My boss has been very interested in the idea of starting a Gluten Free product line, especially with the demand for such starting to rise locally, so I've got the very 'pleasant' job of having a long list of gluten free ingredients dumped in my lap and running around finding the buggers!

In the meanwhile, since I'm partially involved with the food safety at our factory on a sort of assistant level, I figured I would ask: What sort of problems are we looking at when we try to market a gluten free line of products, but we ultimately produce them in a factory that largely works with wheat? So far, I've thought of the following:

 

1. Cleaning. I imagine we would have to have pretty thorough cleaning implemented between blends of Gluten Free and Non-Gluten Free products to prevent cross contamination?

2. Our blenders tend to produce a lot of dust in the air. This has been lessened considerably with the introduction of extractor fans, but we still have the odd day where it feels like I'm walking into a snow storm when I step into the factory. I imagine this would pose a huge problem, since this would essentially be wheat flour all over the place and hence contaminating any gluten free products?

Am I over thinking things? and what sort of measures would we need to put in place? Would a simple, "Warning: Produced in a factory that contains wheat / May contain traces of wheat and / or gluten" do? Or ...

Please shout if you need any additional information.

 

PS: This is not necessarily the place, but I would just like to extend an apology and a shout out to those who helped me in my previous thread. I got kinda sidetracked, and never really got back to thanking those who took the time to look into my issue and assist. I just want to take the time to say sorry, and thank you to xylough, esquef, SUSHIL, MWidra, Simon and Charles.C. Hope you can forgive me!

[MWidra]

Hi guys!

I work in a premix factory. We blend various premixes for the baking industry. Now, I figured this might be an interesting topic for discussion. My boss has been very interested in the idea of starting a Gluten Free product line, especially with the demand for such starting to rise locally, so I've got the very 'pleasant' job of having a long list of gluten free ingredients dumped in my lap and running around finding the buggers!

In the meanwhile, since I'm partially involved with the food safety at our factory on a sort of assistant level, I figured I would ask: What sort of problems are we looking at when we try to market a gluten free line of products, but we ultimately produce them in a factory that largely works with wheat? So far, I've thought of the following:

 

1. Cleaning. I imagine we would have to have pretty thorough cleaning implemented between blends of Gluten Free and Non-Gluten Free products to prevent cross contamination?

2. Our blenders tend to produce a lot of dust in the air. This has been lessened considerably with the introduction of extractor fans, but we still have the odd day where it feels like I'm walking into a snow storm when I step into the factory. I imagine this would pose a huge problem, since this would essentially be wheat flour all over the place and hence contaminating any gluten free products?

Am I over thinking things? and what sort of measures would we need to put in place? Would a simple, "Warning: Produced in a factory that contains wheat / May contain traces of wheat and / or gluten" do? Or ...

Please shout if you need any additional information.

 

PS: This is not necessarily the place, but I would just like to extend an apology and a shout out to those who helped me in my previous thread. I got kinda sidetracked, and never really got back to thanking those who took the time to look into my issue and assist. I just want to take the time to say sorry, and thank you to xylough, esquef, SUSHIL, MWidra, Simon and Charles.C. Hope you can forgive me!

Hello, Jeronkey:

 

I know EXACTLY what you are talking about, because our product is used at times for movie snow.  :)

 

1. Cleaning must be verified before running a gluten-free product.  There are test kits available from various suppliers in various formats.  So if you already have a plate reader, then I would look at the ELISA kits, but if you don't, then look at the lateral flow or strip test kits.  You will definitely need to test your equipment, and I would test the final product as well.

 

2. This is the hard one.  That dust gets EVERYWHERE.  And I mean everywhere unless the blender can be sealed.  REALLY sealed.

 

As I see it, your options are to thoroughly clean that blender and only do the gluten free run when no gluten containing material is being blended in the factory.  If your plant does not run 24/7, then maybe you could set up the first run on a particular day to be gluten free, clean the blender, and not start up the others until it is done.  The dust should have been extracted or settled by then.  You're going to charge more for the product, probably, so making it a more expensive production run is acceptable.  I would test the blender for gluten at the start AND the end of the run, to show that none came into it during the run.

 

All this would depend on the production schedule, and how often you want to have a gluten free run.

 

You could not label something as gluten free, then tell people it could contain gluten.  For most countries (I don't know about South Africa), there is a set limit for the amount of gluten permitted in the product to be able to call it gluten free.  Definitely, you need to research that.

 

I feel your pain about the dust getting everywhere.  We make cellulose powder from pulp sheets, and the dust even gets into the tin cats and blinds the glue boards quickly.

 

Keep us posted.

 

Martha