Overview

The CFIA makes it clear that allergen control must be addressed through structured cleaning protocols, documented verification, and consistent oversight. This blog explores how sanitation fits into that framework, offering insight for operators responsible for upholding food safety across every shift.

Backed by extensive training, certification, and real-world experience, MWAC brings a practical understanding of what allergen-focused sanitation looks like in regulated environments. The sections ahead reflect the challenges facilities face and the solutions that help them stay compliant.

Introduction

Allergens remain one of the most difficult risks to contain in food production. They don’t rely on volume to cause harm, only trace exposure—making every cleaning decision incredibly important.

This importance is even greater in regulated environments. You and your staff need a solid grasp of allergen control protocols, including where your responsibilities begin and end. A sanitation service can implement the necessary procedures, but you remain accountable for oversight, coordination, and ensuring those measures align with your facility’s specific risks.

How Does Cross-Contamination Happen in Food Processing?

Cross-contamination refers to the unintended transfer of allergens or harmful substances from one surface, product, or process to another. In food processing environments, it only takes trace amounts to cause a serious problem, and a key contributor is often insufficient or improper cleaning routines.

This transfer can occur in many ways. Shared equipment used across product lines, utensils that aren’t fully sanitized, or airborne particles settling on exposed surfaces all create pathways for contamination. Cross-contact can quietly occur when cleaning is rushed or assumed complete.

Risk also extends beyond production boundaries. Contaminants can be carried on gloves, stored in neglected corners, or introduced during maintenance if protocols aren't followed. Each movement inside a facility has the potential to compromise product integrity without a structured approach to cleaning.

What Food Allergens Are a Concern in Food Plants?

Food facilities must account for a range of recognized allergens, along with other ingredients that can trigger sensitivities or intolerances.

Here are the main ones:

Peanuts and tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans)
Milk and dairy
Eggs
Fish
Crustaceans and shellfish (e.g., shrimp, crab, lobster)
Soy
Wheat and triticale
Sesame
Mustard
Sulphites (considered a food additive, but still included due to sensitivity concerns)

When ingredients with known risks are present—even in trace amounts—products must carry clear labeling. Statements like “processed in a facility that also handles nuts” are often used to alert consumers, especially when dedicated production lines or strict separation protocols aren’t in place.

What Happens if You Don’t Comply With Proper Cleaning and Sanitation?

In Canada, oversight is led by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which enforces the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. The CFIA has the authority to issue warnings, suspend licenses, mandate recalls, and conduct inspections without prior notice.

If you don’t comply with proper cleaning and sanitation requirements, you’re putting people’s lives at risk. This also exposes you to recalls, legal action, and damage to brand credibility. Even a minor lapse in protocol can have a rippling impact on how and if your business can continue to operate.

There’s also the long-term burden of rebuilding trust. A single incident tied to undeclared allergens can lead retailers to pull contracts and consumers to avoid your brand entirely. Preventing this outcome starts with consistently meeting every cleaning and verification requirement.

What Role Does a Sanitation Schedule Play in Allergen Management?

A defined sanitation schedule ensures that cleaning takes place with the frequency and structure needed to control allergens. It moves cleaning from a reactive task to a documented, routine process that supports consistency and accountability across all shifts.

Every schedule must account for production timelines, changeovers between allergen-containing products, equipment complexity, and verification procedures. It’s perhaps the single most important structure guiding consistent allergen control, but it needs to align with proper training, validated cleaning methods, and clear documentation to be fully effective.

With a professional service, you’ll discuss the following to create a schedule:

Types of allergens present in the facility
Frequency of production runs and changeovers
Equipment design and cleaning accessibility
Required cleaning methods and chemical compatibility
Areas with higher risk of cross-contact

How Is Sanitation Effectiveness Validated?

Validation confirms that your sanitation efforts effectively reduce and eliminate risk. In allergen-sensitive environments, this step is essential for ensuring that cleaning procedures achieve the level of control required for food safety compliance and for holding food production plants accountable for the measures they claim to have in place.

The professionals you hire should have a clear understanding of how to support a process that stands up to regulatory review. The CFIA will then assess whether your facility is meeting its obligations through documentation, observation, and overall consistency with expected food safety practices.

To validate your sanitation protocols, the CFIA will look specifically at:

Condition and cleanliness of food contact surfaces
Storage and labeling of cleaning chemicals
Separation of allergen and non-allergen handling zones
Maintenance of cleaning tools and their designated use
Physical layout and flow of production to prevent cross-contact

How Often Do You Need a Food Safety Inspection?

Food inspections can occur as often as several times a year, but typically no more than three, depending on the type of facility and the level of risk involved in its operations. Facilities handling high-risk products or allergens may be subject to more frequent inspections to ensure ongoing compliance.

The frequency is based on factors like product type, processing methods, past inspection history, and the presence of any known hazards. Regular internal audits and consistent sanitation practices can help maintain readiness, regardless of when your next inspection is scheduled.

How Professional Sanitation Services Support Allergen Control

There’s a reason you can’t have the people who work on the line manage allergen control through cleaning. Professional sanitation teams are trained to recognize risk points others might overlook and apply cleaning protocols that match the complexity of your facility and the ingredients it handles.

Sanitation teams also support the physical separation of cleaning tools for allergen and non-allergen zones, preventing unintended cross-contact through shared equipment. For example, they might decide to implement a colour-coded system for brushes, squeegees, and buckets tied to specific areas.

In addition, they assist with ongoing evaluation, adjusting cleaning protocols when new ingredients are introduced or when layout changes increase risk. Their familiarity with regulatory expectations means they can help adapt procedures quickly—before those changes lead to compliance issues.

What Cleaning Products Do Professionals Use To Avoid Cross-Contamination?

Professionals select cleaning products and tools based on their compatibility with food-contact surfaces, effectiveness against specific residues, and compliance with regulatory standards. The point is to clean thoroughly without introducing new risks that could compromise allergen control.

One example is the use of foaming agents that allow cleaners to track product coverage across complex equipment surfaces. This helps ensure that every area is treated thoroughly before rinsing and sanitizing.

Here are a few others:

Portable sanitation units for spot cleaning
Scrapers and detail brushes for seams, crevices, and gaskets
Sanitary hose reels to prevent contamination during rinsing
Heat-assisted cleaning methods where chemicals aren’t sufficient
Plant-specific cleaning maps

What Food Processing Plants Need a Sanitation Service?

Any facility that handles ingredients with allergenic potential, processes multiple product lines, or operates under strict regulatory oversight benefits from a dedicated sanitation service. The risk of cross-contact exists wherever food is moved, mixed, or packaged—regardless of scale or specialization.

For example, a facility producing both nut-based energy bars and nut-free snacks must control for cross-contact at every stage. A sanitation service can clean shared mixers, conveyors, and packaging lines between production runs to ensure no nut residue carries over into allergen-free batches.

Other industries and plants that benefit include:

Bakeries producing both gluten-free and conventional products
Dairy plants with separate lines for milk-based and non-dairy alternatives
Frozen meal manufacturers with allergen-specific menu items
Confectionery operations using nuts, soy, or dairy in select products
Co-manufacturing plants producing for multiple brands with different allergen standards

What Equipment Do You Need a Sanitation and Cleaning Service To Address?

Food and ingredients move through multiple stages during processing, touching many surfaces and tools along the way. Each point of contact presents an opportunity for cross-contamination if not properly cleaned and maintained.

Equipment like mixers, conveyors, hoppers, slicers, and filling machines require thorough sanitation between production runs, especially when allergens are present. Residue can tend to build up in these areas, increasing the risk of carryover.

Packaging lines, scales, and utensils also need focused attention. Even secondary equipment and surrounding surfaces can play a role in transferring allergens if overlooked during routine cleaning.

Strengthen Your Allergen Controls With Professional Sanitation

MWAC provides sanitation services designed to support strict allergen control protocols across all stages of production. With experience in CFIA and OMAFRA-inspected food plants, we help ensure your facility meets the standards it’s built to uphold.

Call (905) 846-7796 to schedule professional sanitation for your facility!