The Relationship of Allergens to Sanitation Content

  The Relationship of Allergens to Sanitation Content:

The concern about allergens in foods has become one of the most visible and urgent issues facing the food industry. The food industry is challenged to ensure that derivatives of common food allergens are included on labels and that manufacturing facilities and equipment do not contribute to contamination of these substances.Knowledge of undeclared allergens that can occur in food processing and preparation is essential for the maintenance of a safe food supply. Those involved with sanitation must be knowledgeable about how to protect foods against allergens that can be devastating and even fatal to a segment of the population. The food industry should keep these chemical organisms out of the food supply.Most allergies are traced to foodservice. There are over 160 foods that cause allergic reactions. The “Big 8” foods that are most likely to contain allergens include (1) peanuts; 2) tree nuts such as almonds, cashews, pistachios; (3) dairy products (4) eggs (5) soybeans (6) crustacea (7) fish and (8) cereals. Other potential foods that may contain allergens are cottonseed, sesame seed, poppy seed, mollusks, and other legumes. 

WHAT ARE ALLERGENS?

Allergens are substances that cause the immune system to trigger and act against itself. Normally, this condition happens when foreign bodies such as bacteria enter the human body. However, innocent and harmless bodies (proteins) such as pollen, peanuts, milk, penicillin may not be recognized by the immune system and continue to function as a harmful foreign body. 

Yet, wasps and other insects produce allergens as a defense mechanism.A food allergy is triggered when a natural substance is mistaken for a hostile invader, causing immune systems to mobilize to repel the invader. The severity of food allergy symptoms varies from life-threatening reactions when exposed to food proteins that are allergens to which they are sensitized, to less severe reactions such as skin irritation and breathing difficulty. Since no cure is available for food allergies, avoidance is the only preventive measure available to allergic consumers.

ALLERGEN CONTROL

A definite trend toward product recalls associated with undeclared allergens in manufactured products has developed. An effective technique for the control of allergens is the organization and implementation of an allergen control plan (ACP). Such a plan can avoid inadvertent allergen cross-contamination with resultant recalls and potentially adverse or possibly fatal physiological reactions from consumers. Corporate managers, plant managers, and management employees involved in quality assurance, quality control, production, sanitation, and purchasing should all accept the responsibility for the development, implementation, and maintenance of an ACP.

The two major components of an ACP are:

 Allergen assessment as part of the hazard analysis (a chemical hazard).

 After allergen identification, as a raw ingredient or contained within a roll ingredient, control steps should be established if the product is not run on a separate line or a complete wet cleaning is performed between allergen and non-allergen-containing products.

Causes of Allergen Contamination

Possible processing errors that result in allergen containing product contamination include: cross-contamination through inadequate cleaning of equipment used for the manufacture of non-allergen-containing products produced after allergen-containing foods changing of ingredients without an allergen assessment of the new materials ;use of reworks;formulation errors;incorrect labeling

The cause of a true food allergy is the protein in a food item, typically the primary protein. 

These proteins are heat-stable and are not eliminated by cooking or thermal processing. When an allergenic individual comes in contact with this protein, the body has an immune-mediated response because the protein is identified as a foreign substance that must be eliminated. A release of histamine can cause symptoms that may range from itchy skin or eyes to nausea or difficulty breathing and potentially fatal anaphylaxis.

Components of allergen control

An allergen control program should address:

Employee education. Employees must be instructed about the handling of materials that may contain allergens. Training may be incorporated with the teaching of good manufacturing practices. Training should be documented through employee signature, date, and materials covered.Supplier monitoring. Product or ingredient formulations, specification sheets, and certificates of analysis from suppliers of raw materials should be obtained. Testing to verify the quantity of an allergen present can determine essential precautions to be taken during production. Verification that suppliers have an ACP is needed.

Control steps. These precautions are necessary for identified allergens in raw materials if the manufactured products are not produced on a separate line or complete wet cleaning is not performed.Cleaning. Allergen control through the reduction of cross-contamination in a manufacturing plant may be enhanced through the production of allergen-containing foods as the last product on the production line followed by a wet cleaning program. Since the protein component within a food is responsible for the immunological symptoms of an allergenic reaction in humans, complete removal of these proteins is important. Opting for the wet cleaning method necessitates assessing the food items that are processed with shared equipment. Each product may contain a different allergen, requiring the implementation of scheduling or cleaning procedures. When cleaning operations are not performed between allergen and non-allergen-containing products, a parts-per-million analysis is needed to establish the safety of products that do not list allergens on the label. A label declaration may be sufficient for allergen control if all products contain the same allergen.Raw material storage. All raw materials and foods that contain allergens should be stored in an area that is secluded or removed from nonallergenic materials. Incoming palletized materials should be shrink-wrapped to prevent cross-contamination from potential leakage. Partially used bags or other containers of allergen-containing materials should be sealed and stored in segregated areas. All materials that contain allergens should be labeled accordingly with color-coded tag. Color-coding charts should be placed in the production area, especially above wall-mounted equipment and near storage areas, for easy identification by plant personnel. Allergencontaining materials should be stored on the bottom of racks or nearest to the floor to prevent spillage on other items. Scoops and storage containers should be dedicated for specific materials to maintain separation of allergens.Plant layout. Product flow should be evaluated to determine if allergen-containing materials come in contact with other foods with resultant contamination. A potential example is exposure through overhead conveyors that cross one another or over exposed products.Color coding of utensils. Color coding provides an easier method to keep different materials, utensils, and equipment separate.Incorporation of reworks. Only like foods should be added to reworked products. Any reworked products should always be labeled with tags to indicate which products contain allergens. Reworked products containing allergenic ingredients must be stored in areas separate from those that do not contain such products. Containers should be color-coded for use with allergen-containing products, and should not come into contact with non-allergen-containing products. If feasible, reworked products should be put back into the same production run.Label review. A system should be developed for maintaining labels that are placed on foods containing allergens in easy-to-identify areas. A thorough review and matching of the current formulations should be conducted. Documentation should be provided for all material specifications, formulations, and finished product labels. When a raw material ingredient statement changes, a cross-reference with the finished product labels should be provided to comprehend what products and labels would be affected by the change.Documentation review of activities. Documentation is needed to prove what has been done. 

Production schedule and sanitation check-off sheets should be filled out and reviewed by a supervisor (signed and dated) to complete the records for allergen control.Evaluation of program effectiveness. Changes in customers, suppliers, and raw materials necessitate the need for continuous re-evaluation of the effectiveness of an allergy control program. A key component in the continuous verification and success of an ACP is the incorporation of routine auditing practices for suppliers and in-plant operations. Allergen plans should be reviewed as determined appropriate and especially during an annual HACCP. validation. Internal audits should be placed on the agenda and reviewed during monthly HACCP meetings. During internal audits, documentation should be reviewed to ensure that all practices written within the allergen policy are being performed.

Food Allergen Tests

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests have been developed and are widely incorporated to give food processors quick, simple, and accurate tools to check for traces of certain allergenic foods on manufacturing equipment or in food processed on shared equipment. The immunoassay is based on the protein’s characteristic of binding to specific enzyme-labeled antibodies to permit detection and quantification by comparison to standard curves. These tests are per-formed primarily in the laboratory; however, low-cost test kits can be utilized in a manufacturing plant and can be conducted by processing plant workers in approximately 30 minutes. Initially, tests were utilized to ensure that processing equipment was free of allergens. But, testing has expanded to examine all aspects of the manufacturing process.

Allergen Labeling- analysis of how foods are unintentionally contaminated with allergens during manufacturing advice on industry best practices that can be employed to prevent cross-contamination description of advisory labeling (such as “may contain”) incorporated by food manufacturers statement of the number of food facilities inspected in the past 2 years, with a description of the agents handling a number of nonconforming facilities, the nature of the violations and the number of voluntary recalls, or assurances of proper labelling proposal of rules to define and permit the use of the term “gluten-free” on labelling improved collection and presentation of data on the prevalence of food allergies, clinical significance or serious adverse events, and modes of treatment for food allergies recommendations on research activities related to food allergies pursuance of Food Code revisions to provide guidance for the preparation of allergen-free foods provisions for technical assistance to state and local emergency medical services for the treatment and prevention of food allergy responses. 

Allergen Management

The primary responsibility to provide safe foods free from allergen cross-contamination 

belongs to food manufacturers. Because of variation in plant layout, ingredients, and products, it may be necessary to incorporate different allergen management strategies.The following should be incorporated into food manufacturing operations to protect against allergens:

*adopt a “zero tolerance” protection program against allergen cross-contamination

*all personnel should be trained in allergen management strategy 

* ensure that incoming ingredients are clearly labeled and that the labels are reviewed periodically to confirm that suppliers have not changed ingredients without notice

* develop an allergen storage policy including a procedure for the cleanup of spills

* design equipment to facilitate cleaning and the prevention of allergen harborage niches 

*conduct an allergen risk assessment as part of or in addition to the HACCP program 

*clean between rounds of allergen ingredients 

*adopt a comprehensive rework policy, including clear identification of work-in-process materials and reworks 

*reject in-process materials or finished products suspected of cross-contamination 

*review labels before use and confirm that the correct labels are incorporated in the process conduct internal audits or use a third-party auditor to assess the allergen management strategy

 *evaluate and track consumer complaints involving allergen issues and designate 

a trained person to respond to consumer inquiries regarding allergens