A food allergy is an immune system response to a food that the body recognizes as foreign and potentially harmful. The body releases chemicals in an attempt to protect itself; causing allergy symptoms in the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and cardiovascular system. Reactions can range from low-grade fevers, rashes, and flu-like symptoms to more serious illnesses like anaphylactic shock, which can result in death, depending on the individual’s sensitivity to the allergen.

While many different foods can induce allergic responses, there are 14 major food product groups (including products derived from these), which cause the majority of allergic reactions, these are:

Food allergies cannot be cured. Avoidance and prompt management of symptoms is the only way to prevent serious health consequences. Therefore, food and beverage industries need to implement comprehensive allergen control and management programs to avoid product recalls and safeguard their consumers.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), a collaboration between the Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), is the global organization that provides international food standards, guidance, and codes of practice. This is to help ensure that food is safe and can be traded around the globe. Along with the most recent revision to the Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene (amended in 2020), they published their first-ever Code of Practice on Food Allergen Management for Food Business Operators.

The code of practice is intended to be used in conjunction with the existing General Principles of Food Hygiene standard and it provides further detail on allergen management throughout the supply chain, from primary production and manufacturing to retail and foodservice endpoints.

According to the code of practice, allergen management systems and their control measures should be based on risk assessment conducted by the FBO, in which they must identify the allergenic nature of the foods they handle and establish controls. This is to eliminate or minimise the potential for introduction of unintended allergens through cross-contact, or for undeclared allergens to be present due to errors in the supply chain. The provision of accurate allergen information for consumers of foods sold loose (for example in food service) and on labelling of prepacked foods is also emphasised as an objective of the allergen management plan.

The code of practice covers The Top 6 key Elements that should be included in every allergen management program with the following details:

a) Status of Raw Materials

The allergen status of every raw material handled or present in your food business needs to be identified. This involves identifying and documenting what food allergens are present in each raw material.

b) HACCP Plan

HACCP requires the identification of allergen hazards. Any potential allergen hazards that may occur at each step in your process should be included in your HACCP plan. Effective control measures or allergen preventive controls will need to be documented to control this potential risk.

c) Production Procedures

Allergen-specific production procedures such as receiving, storage, identification, processing & preparation, rework, cross-contact, packing, labelling, dispatch, and transportation of food products containing allergenic materials shall be properly documented and implemented. Make sure that you also include maintenance activities.

d) Cleaning and Sanitation Program to be in place

An effective cleaning and sanitation programme is one of the most crucial steps in preventing allergen cross-contamination. Existing cleaning practices that are deemed satisfactory for other microbial contaminants may not be adequate to remove allergen traces. As such, dedicated protocols comprising chemistry, equipment and time are required and should be documented and made available to all personnel involved in the cleaning and sanitation process. Once parameters for an allergen prevention cleaning and sanitation plan are in place, the program must be validated.

e) Product Labelling

The label or information provided on the finished product packaging is the primary means of communicating the allergen status of the food product to the customer or consumer. Your allergen management program needs to include procedures on developing ingredient statements, advising precautionary statements, and verifying correctness to raw materials and formulation. Packaging changeover procedures are also required.

f) Employee Training

Employees must be educated about their role in preventing allergen contamination. Even with an allergen program in place, it will not be successful if it is not understood by the employees.

Full training should be provided to new employees or those who have new responsibilities which now include allergen control. Refresher courses should be performed periodically to keep employees up-to-date on the program, as well as any improvements or changes that may have occurred in the allergen plan. When it comes to product allergen recalls, human error is the most common cause.

In Short

Existing food allergen management practices should be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that your program remains up-to-date, effective, and continue to assist in the production of a safe food product.

Reference:

1. https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/codes-of-practice/en/
2. https://www.campdenbri.co.uk/blogs/allergen-management.php
3. https://haccpmentor.com/allergen-management-program/

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