Verifying your allergen management in compliance with regulations and certification
Aspects to consider when working with allergenic ingredients
Feb 2022. In line with positively increasing demands, allergen-friendly food products are taking their places on the retail shelves. In this article, we aim to give details to you as a manufacturer details on how to prevent allergen cross contamination while producing allergen-free products with appropriate claims, and how to verify your processes to prevent any adverse effects using suitable testing methods.
Legal regulations for allergens
Food law lists 14 allergen classes that must be pointed out on the packaging. The allergen classes are laid down in Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, which has been implemented in German law by the Food Information Regulation (LMIV).
There are some additional allergens like coconut as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or peach as laid down in Korea law etc. Those have to be checked according to the destination country of your products.
Why is allergen management so important?
Any allergen contaminated food item may cause allergies or intolerance in sensitive people, with some allergies constituting a serious danger to the health of the consumer. A mislabelling of allergens often results in product recalls that might have a negative impact on the company’s reputation. Therefore, an elaborate allergen management system is crucial.
However, there are cases where cross contamination cannot be avoided and an indication on the label is necessary. Allergen cross contamination may occur through various sources like ingredients, rework, surfaces, equipment, vehicles, containers, personnel items, airflow etc.
How to verify your system with certification and testing
As mentioned above, verification of allergen processes is possible by conducting on-site inspections (audits) and analyses. All GFSI based audits (BRCGS Food, IFS Food and FSSC 22000) cover allergen management in detail. These are the key aspects that will be checked during an audit:
- Risk assessment for raw materials and final products
- Supplier management to prevent allergen cross contamination
- Cleaning and sanitation programmes
- Labelling and packing requirements
- Personnel training and awareness about allergen management
- Rework process
- Allergen traceability
- Storage conditions
- Vehicle controls, raw material intake controls etc.
- Internal and external laboratory analyses
- Any allergen-free claims and verification of claims
- Designation of work environment and airflow controls etc.
- The multitude of aspects to be considered shows that an extensive know-how of the production processes as well as the entire value chain is necessary to identify and evaluate possible entry points and sources of allergen contamination.
Food allergens can be analysed using different test methods. Eurofins Food & Feed Testing laboratories in Germany offer you protein-based (ELISA) and DNA-based (PCR) assays depending on the type of allergen and the processing degree of your products.
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Would you like to find out more about our testing solutions, or do you need tailored analytical support? Contact us today to get in touch with our experts.
Written by:
Eurofins ARS PROBATA
Eurofins Analytik GmbH