Allergen Management: Keep ’em Separated

I never used to give allergen management a second thought. Sure, I knew there are folks who have food allergies, but 15 years ago it was not that difficult to manage an allergen program.

We put it on the label, and said “That’s good of us.”

But now it’s 2015 and there is much more concern about allergens than there used to be. It seems that there are a lot more people with food allergies. I doubt the facts actually support that statement but I’m confident that at least anecdotally, there are a lot more people who think they are allergic to some food. Either way, the food industry has stepped up our game, and we are now helping consumers do a better job selecting foods that fit into their diets.

The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) mandated some of that improvement, but in general, I think that food companies really want to do the right thing by their consumers. Our expectations are high, our consumers’ expectations are high, and overall, life is better for those with food allergies.

Now comes the twist of fate I was not expecting. I have a grandson who is food allergic—to peanuts, cashews, and pistachios. So I have to do a better job at home as well as at work. I need to step up my game because it’s now affecting me personally.
 

We’re doing well.

I work in a plant that (at least this is how I say it) handles nine of the “Big 8.” Actually, it is four of the eight, plus five different tree nuts—that’s nine, right? We have allergen CCPs and a full-blown allergen plan in addition to our HACCP plan: We identify. We schedule. We clean. We test. We document. And we assure that every label is correct. So now I’m sure that we’re doing an even better job than I could have imagined 15 or 20 years ago.

Every food production plant now has allergen management on its radar. There are seminars and webinars that teach us the next best thing in allergen management. There are new test methods coming our way every year that improve the speed or accuracy of detecting allergens—even some allergens for which testing was impossible only a few years ago.

We have to understand a lot of new information and assimilate that information into an improved program every year. Yet, at least once each week, I hear of a recall for an allergen that is not labeled on a package or there is news of a potential cross contact with an allergen that is not in “that product.” As an industry, we’re improving. But we can do better.
 

We can do better.

Since the diagnosis of my grandson, I now read a lot more of the label when shopping than I used to. Keeping my house safe for him has become a priority. In doing so, I’ve become discerning and have noticed a critical way by which industry can do a better job in producing safe food for those who have food allergies:

I’ve learned to loathe those cautionary statements that don’t tell me if there is an allergen or not—they’re just there to pretend to eliminate liability from the manufacturer. You know the ones I mean: “produced on equipment that also handles this allergen”; “produced in a plant that handles that allergen”; etc. There are many food companies that have lost a lot of business because the food-allergic consumer will not take a chance and buy that product. Come on food industry, you’ve got to do better. Is the allergen in this product or is it not?

My company handles nine of the Big 8, and we don’t have a single package that has a cautionary statement on it. If I can properly separate my allergens, can’t you? There’s a market out there for you if you do. Get busy, do it right! Manage your programs to keep ’em separated.

That is my new motto for the allergen program in my plant—“You gotta keep ’em separated.”