Introducing a New Allergen in a BRCGS-Certified Cheese Facility

Hello Folks,

I need assistance in introducing a new allergen in a BRCGS-certified plant.

My facility is a cheese company, and currently, milk is the only allergen present. Management has asked for my opinion on purchasing vegan cheese from a supplier and only handling the cutting and packaging of the product in our facility.

I would like to understand the potential for cross-contamination if we proceed with buying this new product and performing only the cutting process.

Potential for cross contamination likely goes between both products: milk in your current cheese is obvious, but most vegan cheeses will use nuts as their base, so make sure you carefully review the vegan cheese ingredients and identify cross-contamination back into your dairy based cheeses.

That said, a robust cleaning validation and swabbing for the allergen proteins should be done to ensure you aren't cross contaminating.  If the vegan cheese is allergen free, you could also suggest sequencing to control allergen risk: starting the day/shift with processing the vegan cheese and transitioning to the dairy allergen later after a wash between.

Thanks for your reply.

Are you referring to the washing procedure that occurs between changing over to control the risk of allergens?

I agree with Jfrey and wanted to add that I eat Vegan cheese, we just had Cheddar tonight, it was really good and it is made with Oat Milk, Coconut Cream/Milk and Cashew Milk.

You will of course need to declare that you are processing in a plant that also processes milk, dairy etc - I know some Vegans (I am a Vegetarian myself) that would flip out knowing that their cheese was processed in a facility that also processed regular cow milk with or without the notice.

Hi JESLINJOSEPH44,

As per previous posts, there may be significant risks of allergen cross-contamination and I would be concerned about the feasibility of cleaning cutting/packing equipment adequately between products with different allergens.

Have you considered a separate area and equipment for this new product?

Kind regards,

Tony