Bring cleanliness to the baking industry

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Bring cleanliness to the baking industry

5 Aug 2022

Liz Goodwin

Liz Goodwin is a Texas-born journalist and photographer. Although a Southerner at heart, she fell in love with the Midwest at the University of Missouri where she earned her bachelor's of journalism. When she’s not writing or behind a camera, she loves to cook, find new restaurants, and spend time outside. Her favorite baked goods include croissants and crackers, especially when topped with fig jam and brie.

LAS VEGAS — The context of the word “clean” has certainly evolved since IBIE 2019.

COVID-19 turned everything the world knew about health and safety on its head. This was new territory for many, full of face masks and disposable gloves at gas stations and industrial-size pumps of hand sanitizer around every corner. The baking industry also evolved with the term clean, though it’s always been top of mind in one way or another.

As new allergens — and innovations — push sanitation past its previous boundaries, IBIE is bringing the baking industry together to strategize on overcoming challenges big and small.

Mirdamadi said that sesame is especially challenging because it’s such a small particulate. While it’s not as microscopic as traces of dairy or soy — something that requires testing to detect — sesame seeds are a lot smaller and more liberally used than larger, more expensive allergens such as almonds or peanuts. Sesame seeds are also often dumped atop products, dispersing them everywhere.

Baking Expo will introduce a new show feature dedicated to keeping it clean: The Sanitation Pavilion. Located in the West Hall, it will serve as a central hub for bakers and suppliers to assemble and collaborate on this important topic.

Nathan Mirdamadi, senior food specialist at Commercial Food Sanitation, a division of Intralox, will share insights on something that every bread, bun and roll manufacturer is thinking about: sesame seeds. When this tiny ingredient officially becomes the ninth major allergen in the US on Jan. 1, 2023, it could have a major impact on sanitation practices. And though bakeries are used to handling allergens, it’s a whole new ball game with this little seed.

“This particular allergen is going to be complicated for the baking industry,” Mirdamadi said. “As soon as I saw this [will become] law, I started talking to many of my customers saying, ‘We need to get ahead of this because it’s going to be huge.’”

“This particular allergen is going to be complicated for the baking industry. As soon as I saw this [will become] law, I started talking to many of my customers saying, ‘We need to get ahead of this because it’s going to be huge.’” — Nathan Mirdamadi | senior food specialist | Commercial Food Sanitation

“It’s like going to be like going the beach and trying to clean up every grain of sand,” Mirdamadi said of how difficult it is to thoroughly clean sesame seeds from bakery equipment. “I won’t say ‘impossible,’ but it’s about as close to that word as operators have seen.”

During Mirdamadi’s discussion at IBIE, he will share what he and his team have learned through their partnership with a number of baking companies including Aspire Bakeries. One of his co-presenters will be Jill Weyhgandt, director of quality and food safety for Aspire, and she will discuss some of the baking company’s efforts as well.

“We’re going to tag team it and talk about all the different approaches that bakeries have tried,” Mirdamadi said. “Obviously dedicating a line or facility is the first goal, but if you decide that’s not an option, you will have to do changeovers. So, we will be talking about the strategies that have been successful and unsuccessful.”

The presentation will also touch on the science side of sesame and how to reduce cross-contamination. Mirdamadi strongly believes that bakeries should have dedicated pans for seeded and unseeded buns. Many bakeries are already doing this due to the different product sizes, but if they aren’t, starting now can avoid having to attempt to clean every seed off those pans. Although high heat can eliminate the detection of an allergenic protein on a pan that may have had allergens on it, that doesn’t mean it still isn’t there.

With more allergens still popping up, Mirdamadi will also dive into the importance of equipment with hygienic design. As the future of food evolves, he suggested that investing in equipment that can help prepare an operation for those changes is a smart move.

“Our ability to detect contaminants in food is increasing at a rate that outpaces our ability to mitigate the risk,” he said. “Think about listeria: before the mid-’80’s, we didn’t commonly associate that with food. Fast forward 30 years, and things like listeria and allergens are primary concerns. And it’s only going to get more difficult as regulators and the industry get their hands on advancing technologies. As many of our parents told us as kids, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that’s where we’re at [with sanitation].”

As Mirdamadi prepares to dive into these issues and more at the Las Vegas Convention Center in September, he expressed his excitement for providing important insight and facilitating discussions during this critical point in baking’s history.

This story has been adapted from the July | IBIE ShowGuide 2022 issue of Commercial Baking. Read the full story in the digital edition here.

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