Allergen management in food businesses should

be seen as an integral part of existing food safety

management rather than a completely new system.

An effective allergen management system must

consider all operations from sourcing of raw materials

through manufacturing and packaging to the finished

product, including new product development

This evaluation should be carried out by personnel

appropriately trained in allergen management.

Documented procedures for the control and prevention

of contamination must be in place and visible or

readily available to all employees in the work area. The

procedures should contain information about:

Product development guidelines in terms of allergens.

Good hygiene, for example, rules regarding clothing,

hand-washing and hand contact with foods.

Cleaning of premises, equipment and tools.

Handling of rework materials, for example, the

conditions under which such products may be used.

Waste management, for example, how waste should

be labelled and kept separate from rework.

Situations where potential cross-contamination can

occur between raw materials, products, production

lines or equipment, and each employee’s responsibility

for preventing this.

Production scheduling.

Labelling of raw materials, semi-finished goods and

finished products

Changes to any process within a food production
facility, or introduction of a new raw material or
product, can affect allergen cross-contact risks for
other products manufactured at the same site. Moving
production of a product to another site may also alter
the allergenic risk associated with it. Any such changes
will therefore require a re-assessment of the original
risk for all potentially affected products and, if required,
application of new risk management measures. Any
new relevant risk identified, which cannot be reduced
further, will need to be communicated to consumers, for
instance through advisory labelling