Overview

Smoking cheese involves creating smoke in a smokehouse and exposing the cheese to that smoke. Smoking gives cheese a characteristic taste and look.

Under the Milk Act (Ontario), smoking cheese is considered to be a form of processing a milk product. This means it must be conducted in a licensed dairy plant.

As a cheese maker, you should be aware of the food safety risks associated with the smoking process. These risks include contaminating the cheese with:

  • cancer-causing substances if the cheese comes in direct contact with heavy smoke
  • harmful bacteria if you do not follow good manufacturing practices or the smokehouse is made of materials that cannot be properly cleaned and sanitized

If you operate a licensed dairy plant and plan to install a smoker or build a smokehouse, you must follow the rules on this page.

Location

The smoker/smokehouse must be located inside a licensed dairy plant.

It must also be located in a separate compartment or room in a finished product handling area of the plant.

Don't locate the smoker/smokehouse in raw product handling areas such as:

  • the make room of a cheese processing plant
  • raw milk receiving rooms
  • areas of the plant where raw milk is handled

Separation in a compartment or room

The smoking process creates strong odours, so you must isolate the smoker/smokehouse in a separate compartment or room.

This prevents the odours from affecting the quality of products in other areas of the dairy plant.

Design the inside of the compartment or room to:

  • minimize the risk of food contamination
  • make it easy to keep the smoking process sanitary
  • be easy to clean effectively

Contamination

You must have processes in place to prevent contamination from other products or activities and ensure good microbiological control over your products.

It is your responsibility to demonstrate that the safety of the product has been maintained.

Smoker construction and materials

If dust, dirt or condensation build up in the smoker/smokehouse, they can contaminate the product. The smoker/smokehouse needs to be designed, built, finished and maintained in a way that prevents this.

All surfaces and racks in the smoker/smokehouse must be made from materials that are:

The design of the smoker/smokehouse determines how effectively you can clean it. Sharp corners and angles are difficult to clean.

Racks

Because racks directly touch the cheese, they need to be made of stainless steel or corrosion-resistant material.

You must be able to keep the racks sanitary so there are no microorganisms on them that could contaminate the cheese.

Ventilation

Make sure the smoker/smokehouse has enough ventilation to exhaust the smoke.

You need to be able to exhaust the smoke so that airborne contamination such as steam, condensation, dust or odours don't affect the quality of products in other areas of the dairy processing facility.

Exhaust duct

Make sure the exhaust duct is designed to stop rainwater or pests from entering the smokehouse.

When the duct is not being used, it needs to be sealed (for example, with a damper or baffle).

Exhaust systems need to be easy to clean, and to be kept clean.

Smoke source materials

To create the smoke used in the smoker/smokehouse, choose combustible materials that will not affect the safety of the cheese or cheese products.

You may use:

  • hardwood
  • hardwood sawdust
  • vapourized liquid smoke created from hardwood or hardwood sawdust

Make sure the material you use is certified as food grade.

Store and handle the materials properly to minimize the risk of contaminating food products.

Temperature control

Temperature control is extremely critical to the cold smoking process to protect the cheese from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Small particles in smoke may carry PAHs. PAHs are a food safety concern because they are known or suspected to cause cancer.

To reduce the risk of creating PAHs, keep the smoke temperatures low.

Tips

Place the smoker outside the smokehouse, smoking chamber or processing oven.

To keep ignition temperatures below 350 to 375°C, make sure the moisture content of the hardwood sawdust or chips is at least 30%.

Also, keep the smoke vapour below 29 to 32°C to make sure that the cheese does not soften and lose shape or start to oil off.footnote 1

Transportation and storage

Make sure that any finished product that needs to be kept at a specific temperature is transported and stored at that temperature.

Keep records that demonstrate the cheese has been transported and stored at the right temperature for that type of cheese.

The vehicles used to transport the cheese to and from the off-site smoking facility must be designed, built, maintained, cleaned and used in a way that prevents food contamination.

The cold storage facilities where your cheese is kept must be designed, built, maintained, cleaned and used in a way that prevents food contamination.

Chain of custody

Both the plant and the smokehouse operator must have recorded “chain of custody” procedures.

These records must demonstrate that both the plant and smokehouse:

  • have control of the cheese
  • can maintain authenticity of the products while they are transferred between plants 

Process control procedure

As the cheese manufacturer or the owner, you need to have a written process control procedure.

Following a written procedure will help ensure product consistency. Update your procedures as required.

Recordkeeping

Record these details for each batch of cheese you process:

  • date
  • lot identifier
  • processing time
  • temperature
  • cooling time
  • type of combustible material you used

These records let you track and trace each lot of cheese in the event of a product recall.

Cleaning and sanitation

All licensed dairy plants must have a written sanitation program.

A sanitation program is a document that details the dairy plant’s cleaning and sanitation procedures. Make sure you or the operator of the plant you are using has one.

Carefully review the program and make sure it is effective at removing all product residues.

Cleaning chemicals

Since the smoking process is performed on finished cheese product, use cleaning chemicals that can remove smoke residues without leaving chemical residues that could contaminate the next lot of cheese.

Dairy detergents

Generating smoke creates residues that are difficult to clean using typical dairy detergents. However, the detergents you use should still be approved for use in a food plant.

Employee training

Train plant employees to understand:

  • the importance of their role in the smokehouse
  • how their role can affect the safety of the food they are preparing
  • how their role can affect the health and safety of people who eat it

Written employee training program

Create a written employee training program that details:

  • appropriate training in personal hygiene and hygienic food handling.
  • how complex the manufacturing process is
  • how complex employees' jobs are

Review the program at least annually and update it whenever procedures change.

Alternative smoking services

If you do not have your own smokehouse, make sure that the smokehouse that handles your cheese meets the conditions outlined in this guideline.

Review the facility's written process control procedure to verify that the plant:

  • meets the requirements for smoking and smokehouses
  • keeps records
  • takes the right corrective steps if deviations occur