New Tumbler Equipment sanitation, allergen cleaning, process controls, CCPS?

Hello all,

I am looking for insight, direction and any advice.

We are a bakery who manufactures cookies and breadsticks/crackers.

I have recently been surprised with a tumbler that we are apparently going to be seasoning outside breadsticks and baguettes.

I have to figure out how to make this all work but I have no experience with tumblers regarding sanitation, allergen cleaning, process controls, CCPS? and any other major concerns.

Any suggestions, examples or advice on where I should start would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Betty

Start with the manufacturer of the tumbler-reputable companies usually have a sanitation procedure you can start with

Another idea besides what Scampi said - ask your chemical supply company about cleaning procedures. They may have experience too. 

The tumbler itself is probably fairly simple.  The tricky part sanitation wise is usually with the loading mechanism, whether that be a vacuum system or a lift.

I agree with the comment about asking a chemical supplier for assistance.  I've used tumblers in the past and a combination of long-reach cleaning brushes and a foaming detergent that is suitable for your food substrate is really helpful.  A foaming detergent will allow the detergent to work on the soils, particularly oils that may be present in your seasoning and breads and the foam will cling to the vertical surfaces of the drum.  If the tumbler is a perforated drum or an older design that is not stainless steel, cleaning can be very difficult and require the use of compressed air and brushes to remove debris and if carbon steel, use of water for cleaning can cause corrosion.

An additional cleaning method I've seen for removal of built up debris in drums to long to reach the interior with brushes, especially in scenarios where the drum is heated, is to place studded steel balls into the drum and turn the drum on so the balls knock off stuck-on debris.  This method is probably most applicable for pass-through drums where product enters on one side and exits on the other side with the drum in a horizontal position.

What allergens are you already working with, and how are you managing them? If your facility is already more-or-less where they need to be in terms of allergens, it's largely a matter of applying the same protocol to the new equipment and validating the cleaning procedure. If the seasonings involve small bits of nut or sesame, you'd want to pay extra attention to anywhere that they may get temporarily stuck. If your facility doesn't yet have a good program, use this tumbler as an excuse to take a step back and overhaul things.