Management of allergens in food industry

Food allergies are the exaggerated response of our immune system against the consumption, contact or inhalation of a food, its derivatives or an additive contained in the same. There is an increasingly important public health problem since its prevalence is increasing.

Management of allergens in the food industry is not a new system, but it is already an integral part of the food security control. An effective allergen management system should take into account all operations, from the supply of raw materials to production, handling or packaging.

The legislation only requires to inform of the presence of 14 allergens in foods, either because they are included in the list of ingredients or because a cross contamination occurs during its production or distribution.

However, the management of allergens must be integrated into the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and into the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) aiming to avoid contaminations and minimize the unintentional appearance of allergens in products.

Certainly, this process involves being aware of the raw material composition used in the processes, as well as organizing them, carrying out the production in an orderly manner and implementing a very exhaustive cleaning.

Our primary goal as a company involved in allergen security is to inform customers about its products, through a series of posts about the major risks the operators in the chain are facing during the different stages in development, production and distribution,. Also, our objective is to advise them about the preventive tools that they have at their disposal to ensure the correct labelling of processed products, in order to protect sensible customers to these kinds of foods.