Allergen Management, Supporting Your Business

Transcription

1 Allergen Management, Supporting Your Business Ruth Bell, AF Associates International Food Safety and Quality Management Specialists

2 Ruth Bell MSc, FIFST Specialisms: Implementation of Quality and Food Safety Management Systems based around BRC/ISO/IFS/SQF/AIB standards Technical & Legal support 3rd Party Auditor

3 AF Associates International Food Safety and Quality Management Specialists AF Associates is a leading provider of QFSM Consultancy, Auditing and Training to all sectors of the Feed & Food Industry. Quality and Food Safety Management System Development BRC/IFS/SQA Standard Advice ISO Standard Advice Auditing Food Legislation & Technical Support Bespoke & Certificated Training E-Learning courses

4 Allergen Management Allergens Differences between allergy and intolerance Principles of allergen management

5 Why do we need Allergen Management? Increase consumer confidence in label information Reduce number of incidents / alerts Reduce number of recalls / withdrawals Brand protection

6 Poll Have you had an allergen incident at your premises? Yes No

7 Allergens Allergens remain a big food safety news story

8 Allergens > 120 foods cause allergies Limited number considered public health concern Foods most commonly causing serious allergic reactions worldwide: Cereals containing gluten, milk, egg, tree nuts, peanuts, soybeans, fish, crustacea

9 Allergen Labelling Requirements Most countries require labelling of the common allergy causing foods Foods causing allergy differ between geographical region Some countries have additional foods which must be declared as allergens

10 Food Allergens Which allergens do you handle at your site?

11 FSA Recalls Food Standards Agency Incident Report allergen alerts in 2013 First significant drop since records started in 2006 FSA Annual Report of Incidents 2013

12 FSA Recalls All resulting in Product Recall FSA Annual Report of Incidents 2013

13 FSA Recalls Does not include withdrawals Not reported to FSA Allergen contamination at manufacturing Real figure likely to be much higher

14 FSA Recalls Costs of product recalls Tangible and Intangible

15 Labelling issues FSA Recalls Cross packing issues Cross contamination issues

16 Alerts Recall of gluten free product due to the presence of gluten Recall of strawberry cheesecakes as they contain trifle which has egg as an ingredient Recall of dried cranberries as they contain sulphur dioxide not declared on the label

17 Classification of reactions to food Adverse reaction to food Abnormal reaction Predictable in population aversion intolerance true food allergy toxicological pharmacological biological Metabolic defect sensitisation e.g. histamine e.g. alcohol e.g. Salmonella e.g. Coeliac disease IgE medicated

18 What is. Intolerance Is a negative reaction to food and may be: Immune system related (allergy) Related to lack of enzymes or chemicals to digest certain foods in the body Reaction to certain chemicals (natural or otherwise) in the food

19 What is Intolerance? Intolerance Reaction by body to food consumed No immune system response Typically occurs if larger amounts of food consumed Body usually unable to produce particular chemical reaction to break down the food

20 What is Intolerance? Common food intolerances Lactose intolerance Coeliac disease (Gluten intolerance) Some food additives Phenylketonuria (PKU)

21 Typical Symptoms of Food Intolerance Nausea Bloating Abdominal pain Diarrhoea

22 What is Allergy Occurs when the immune system reacts adversely to a food substance that is harmless to most people. Anaphylaxis Is at the extreme end a severe, rapidly occurring allergic reaction

23 Typical Symptoms of Allergic Reaction Swelling (Throat & Mouth) Restriction of Airways Weakness Light-headedness Unconsciousness Death or serious long term health issues

24 Typical Symptoms of Anaphylaxis

25 Definition of True Food Allergen A form of food intolerance associated with a hypersensitive immune response a so called immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated reaction in which antibodies are formed.

26 Food Allergy Reactions A reaction to a protein in the food The body s immune system mistakenly identifying a normally harmless substance for a dangerous invader The effect is incurable, being life-long with very small quantities of protein causing a severe reaction A reaction only occurs to sensitive individuals

27 There is NO CURE Treatments How is allergy diagnosed? Warning signs i.e. mild attacks Full blown attacks Testing

28 Treatments Epi-Pen Piriton for milder cases Avoidance of foods Prevention of contamination by the food industry

29 The Anaphylaxis Campaign States: It is up to the individual to avoid the food and carry necessary treatments, BUT it is up to the food industry to minimise risks by prevention of contamination

30 Avoidance & Prevention Avoidance & Prevention are both needed as neither is good enough on their own, with treatment as necesary Individuals must avoid Industry must prevent

31 Aims: Aims of an Allergen Management System Know what allergens are being intentionally added Minimise / eliminate the presence of unintentionally added allergens Justify any advisory warning statement Consistent approach to labelling

32 Management of Risk A business must risk assess its capability to provide safe food to people with food allergies Allergens need to be identified throughout the process by risk assessment and managed to avoid their unintentional presence in products wherever possible.

33 Management of Risk Consider if ingredient/product intentionally contains an allergenic foodstuff Do these foods have the potential to cross contaminate ingredients coming into or foods on the premises (risk assessment) Implement measures to avoid unintentional presence

34 Allergens Intentionally Present Product Nuts Peanuts Sesame Fish Mollusc s Almond Tart Ground Almond s (Powde r) Flaked Almond s (Solid) Apple Pie Crustac eans Egg Milk Soya Beans Soya Lecithin in Dried Egg White (Powde r) Liquid Egg (Liquid) Liquid Egg (Liquid) Butter (Solid) Whey Powder (Powde r) Margari ne (Solid) Soya Lecithin in Margari ne (Solid) Soya Flour (Powde r) Gluten Lupin Mustar d Celery Wheat Flour (Powde r) Wheat Flour (Powde r) Sulpher Dioxide Sugar (Powder) Glucose Syrup (Liquid) Allergen not used on site Allergenic ingredient used in this product as an intentional ingredient Allergen used on site but not used in this product as an intentional ingredient

35 Risk Assessment

36 Identify Probability of Unintentional Presence of Allergens Draw a detailed flow of all ingredients and raw materials through factory process indicating areas of concern Risk assess each step for the potential of cross contamination of the finished product with unintended allergens

37 How to Assess the Risk? HACCP Principles Ensure team covers all areas (not just technical) Identify risks from process flow Assess the risk at each stage Use a risk matrix Likelihood versus Severity

38 Allergen Risk Matrix

39 Interpretation of Risk Matrix Low Risk Established control measures are appropriate and should be sufficient to minimise / eliminate risk, no further action is required, other than to ensure that controls are maintained. Medium Risk Consideration should be given as to whether the risk can be lowered to an acceptable level, costs of additional risk reduction should be taken into account. High Risk Substantial effort should be made to reduce the risk, risk reduction measures should be implemented urgently with a defined action plan in place for monitoring risk. Interim control measures may need to be implemented, particularly if the risk levels are associated with harmful consequences.

40 Detailed Assessment by Product Allergen of Concern Product at Risk (i.e. Does not contain the allergen as in intentional ingredient) Purchase Intake Stores Transfer to Production/Bakery Sieve Weigh Up Mixing Area Storage of WIP Assembly Lines Freezing Packing Despatch Sesame Almond Tart Low Low Low Low Low High High Mediu m Milk Almond Tart Low Low Low Low High High High Low Mediu m Mustard Almond Tart Low Low Low Low High High High Low Mediu m High Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low Low

41 Process Controls

42 Preventing Cross Contamination The defences in preventing cross contamination take 2 main forms: Systems/Procedures Process controls

43 Scheduling Production schedules should run no or low risk allergenic products first and high risk allergenic products last All product must not be allowed to cross contaminate the next product to be produced

44 Procedures Procedures for the control of allergenic material, detailing responsibility, frequency of procedures, recording of results and corrective actions Staff must be trained against these procedures and refresher training provided as required

45 Process Controls

46 Allergen Control Monitoring of control measures Corrective action Verification through audit

47 Test Types Rapid Tests Qualitative test (presence/absence) Hand held system used on site Kits fairly cheap to purchase Use for verification and screening

48 Test Types Picture ESR 2007

49 ELISA Tests Test Types Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay Specific types for different allergens Can be used on site LOD typically 1% but can be to 0.1%

50 PCR Test Types Polymerase Chain Reaction Identifies DNA within sample Professional lab use only LOD typically 0.01%

51 Allergen Risk Review Allergen management systems must be monitored and reviewed to provide assurance they are working correctly.

52 Reassessment Review of allergenic status must be made when modifying: Product formulation Processes/scheduling This also applies to new products

53 Records Records must demonstrate effective allergen management Effectively audited & documented Period of retention of records shall be defined Allergens should be included in Management Review

54 Question What are you going to do now to manage allergens?

55 Allergen Management

56 Thank you for listening Questions? Ruth Bell AF Associates