Hi Sarah
Yes SQF 8 has added risk assessment from vending machines, lunch rooms, lockers, visitors, employees and suppliers. It was not explicit before but it was part of consideration of allergen management always. I am sure it would have been assessed at your site while defining pre requisite programs / GMP procedures. All you need is to formally document is and do a risk assessment in case it was not done before, taking into consideration these factors. For eg.
Lunch room is of course a definite source of allergen specially if employees bring their own food with them. In this case risk can't be removed but it could easily be mitigated by ensuring a clean area before lunch room and production area. As well as a pass-through procedure that should include sanitization. Keeping allergen aside, it is basic GMP and covers allergen management too. You just cover it in your allergen risk assessment as well. BUT here is one important point that lunch boxes should not pass through production area even enclosed. Otherwise it need another risk assessment.
If visitors are wearing overall or similar then it also covers risk.
In deshelling case, your supplier is only peanut provider and as you said you are only dealing with peanuts, so there is no risk of cross contamination as your main product itself a sole allergen. But supplies of packaging materials like bins, bags, cartons, pallets should be part of risk assessment. For eg. if cartons are kept in a warehouse where cartons of wheat are being stored too. Then there is a chance that any left over cartons of wheat production were being sent back to warehouse, sitting next to the peanut cartons and causing cross contamination of gluten. So this should be analysed as risk assessment of packaging material risk.
Hope it helps. or you may send any specific question if you like further.
One more thing, do you sell deshelled peanuts as consumable food? or to the another processor / process to pass it through kill step?
Thanks.
