New guidelines to help food manufacturers prevent allergen-related recalls

According to a study by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) around 6% of the UK population (2.4 million people) are living with a confirmed food allergy.

Awareness of, and planning around, food allergens (primarily the ‘big 14’) is of paramount importance within industry, with clear, robust processes needed at every stage of manufacturing to prevent allergy-causing ingredients finding their way into ‘free-from’ products.

In a bid to help primarily smaller producers navigate the practicalities around allergen-containing foods, the Food & Drink Federation (FDF) has just released new guidance in a document, Allergen Recall Prevention.

It’s been developed alongside experts from the FDF’s membership, in collaboration with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), and sets out key considerations for businesses to follow in order to stop, manage and investigate food allergy incidents as efficiently and safely as possible.

“The British food and drink industry has some of the highest safety standards in the world,” said Olayemi Fashesin-Souza, the FDF’s regulatory manager.

“With robust allergen management practices and comprehensive labelling, consumers with food allergies can choose from a wide variety of products that are safe for them to eat.

“Sometimes, however, food products need to be recalled to ensure consumer safety. Our latest guidance offers manufacturers a proactive approach to minimise allergen-related recalls. By implementing this guidance companies, in particular smaller businesses, can improve the strength of their food safety procedures and stop any potential issues before they arise.”

Ensuring all food packaging has the correct and complete allergen information is incredibly important, the FDF said, adding that large scale recalls (as seen recently, with some producers having to recall mustard products due to peanut contamination fears) have a significant commercial impact on manufacturers.

Though each stage of allergen management requires thorough inspection and risk assessments, the new guidance simplifies these steps so they can be integrated into existing procedures, with processes to be followed for each of the four main courses of allergen incidents. These are:

Incorrect declaration of ingredients: When an allergen ingredient is not declared or is incorrectly declared (for example during translation between English and another language).

Mismatch in product and packaging: When the packaging doesn’t represent the product inside – such as a product in the wrong packaging or with the wrong label.

Incorrect ‘free-from’ allergen claims: When a ‘free-from’ product contains an allergen as an ingredient or contaminant.

Not declaring unintentional allergen presence: Where ‘may contain’ hasn’t been printed on the label.

The guidance gives a detailed overview of each scenario, clearly breaking down causes, and steps to mitigate issues.

Susan Jebb OBE, chair of the FSA, said food producers need an effective system covering their entire operation to mitigate potential allergen issues, and hopes the guidance will highlight the important factors that should be considered when businesses assess allergen risks. “It also provides useful areas of focus when investigating the causes of allergen-related incidents to prevent future occurrences,” she added. “The FSA has a long-term ambition to improve the quality of life for people with food hypersensitivities. I encourage food businesses to read and use this FDF guidance to develop and maintain effective allergen risk management systems to help protect their customers.”

The head of incidents and resiliene at the FSA, Darren Whitby, added, “Effectively managing food allergens properly throughout all production stages is important to prevent cross contamination, and to ensure allergen information is present and provided accurately. However, we are aware that things sometimes go wrong during the manufacturing process, and this may result in a food incident.”

The FSA, Darren said, is typically notified of around 300 allergen-related incidents each year. “This new guidance published by the FDF helps companies to identify the underlying causes to help prevent future incidents and improve food allergen management systems.”

Read the guidance here.