Food Safety Assurance Systems: Management of Allergens in Food Industry
Food allergy is recognized as an important public health issue, requiring collaboration between multiple stakeholders, including the food industry, to be effectively addressed. Management of allergens in food production aims to assure the safety of allergic consumers, but has proved particularly challenging because of the unique attributes of food allergy and food allergens. Accurate allergen labeling, minimizing unintended presence, and circumspect use of meaningful precautionary labeling, where required, form the cornerstones of effective allergen management. Allergen control plans represent the practical description of the essential measures needed to assure its implementation. Food allergen risk management must also be integrated into general food safety management and allergen risks considered at all stages of the food manufacturing process. Recent advances in understanding of minimum eliciting doses and their distribution in the allergic population make it possible to estimate quantitatively the risk from cross-contact. However, validation studies and the use of analytical methods to quantify levels of carryover remain subject to many potential pitfalls and benefit from a rigorous approach to design, conduct, and interpretation.