BRC issue 7 position on Food Grade greases

Hey!

we just completed our annual BRC audit and i wanted to give anyone who didn't know this a heads up:

All food grade greases much be assessed for allergens. allergen information is not available on the MSDS, so you have to contact the manufacturers and request the information (like a letter stating that their products don't contain any priority allergens). be sure to include the priority allergens for all the countries you ship to.

Hope this helps! i must have missed it when i reviewed the new standard.

Thanks for that, we'd always asked to be nut free but I'd not considered they could contain other allergens.

Koko LMQ- our auditor looked at the MSDS and still said it wasn't enough. we need to get allergen statements for each FG grease to prove that there are no oils derived from allergens in it. The auditor used soy as an example, saying it was commonly used in FG greases.

I'm not entirely sure, but i believe that MSDS do not list all the ingredients in a product. only the main or potentially hazardous components are included.

i'm curious, was your auditor satisfied with the MSDS, or have you not been audited yet?

thank you for your comment! This one caught me by surprise for sure!  

Hi

You cannot rely on the MSDS to give the allergen details.

At a recent audit we got the auditor to phone the supplier and ask for the allergen statement as we had been unable to get any information.

She was told:

"We provide all the information required under the legislation. BRC requirements are not law and we are under no obligation to provide that information, so we don't"

The auditor accepted that we had tried to get the info and had been unable.

Since this was a new clause and we had tried, we didn't get an NC, but the recommendation was to either get the info for next time, or change supplier

We have since changed supplier who, as it turns out, has been putting allergen information on their specifications and product info sheets (not on the MSDS) for the past 8-10 years

rgds

Hello beersafety,

I've read your post a couple of days ago. We have our audit today and tomorrow against BRC7 std(PH time: june 8-9). Based on your post, I contacted our suppliers of food grade oil and greases that we need a certification that their products contain no allergens and processed in an allergen free environment. Manufacturer sent us the certificate. When the auditor saw the certificate this afternoon she is amused and gave a thumbs up sign.

Thank you once again beefsafety for sharing the info.

regards,

redfox

Hello beersafety,

 

I've read your post a couple of days ago. We have our audit today and tomorrow against BRC7 std(PH time: june 8-9). Based on your post, I contacted our suppliers of food grade oil and greases that we need a certification that their products contain no allergens and processed in an allergen free environment. Manufacturer sent us the certificate. When the auditor saw the certificate this afternoon she is amused and gave a thumbs up sign.

 

Thank you once again beefsafety for sharing the info.

 

regards,

redfox

That's great! I'm glad this information help you! 

BRC probably got the idea from SQF -

http://www.ifsqn.com...ade-lubricants/

Thanks Beersafety. :thumbup:

Thank you all for your input on this as we have our audit next week and I completely overlooked the requirement on allergen statement of food grade grease. Should I be concerned about having a statement for hand soaps and sanitizers or anything like that as well?

Thank you all for your input on this as we have our audit next week and I completely overlooked the requirement on allergen statement of food grade grease. Should I be concerned about having a statement for hand soaps and sanitizers or anything like that as well?

No problem! I'm happy to help:)

to answer your question: I don't believe so because they are not FG chemicals. Our auditor explained that only FG chemicals need to be assessed for allergens.  

No problem! I'm happy to help:)

 

to answer your question: I don't believe so because they are not FG chemicals. Our auditor explained that only FG chemicals need to be assessed for allergens.  

I would argue the risk would be just as high, however, the standard doesn't ask for it on hand soaps etc so you should be fine from a compliance perspective.  I was about to say that no-one would be so stupid to put nut oil into a hand wash would they?  But then the times I've found lubricants with allergenic oil in them are exactly nil too.

Hello,

We been audited by BRC just finished yesterday. I would strongly say that you should get a certification from the manufacturer of food grade grease and food additive "that it no contains allergens and has been produced in an allergen-free environment". And if you buy from a trader, a trader-made certification is not acceptable. It must be from manufacturer's certification.

Cleaning agents are not included since it you do cleaning and sanitizing verification before production commence. Though hand soap is used, a hand washing step is done before worker can handle the product.

Hope this could help to the soon-to-be-audited site.

Regards,

redfox