Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 7.5
List of allergens that must be declared on food products in the EU (Anon.
2003
,
2006a
,
2011b
)
Allergen
Cereals containing gluten; wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut or their hybridised strains
Crustaceans
Eggs
Fish
Peanuts
Soybeans
Milk
Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia
or Queensland nuts)
Celery
Mustard
Sesame seeds
Sulphur dioxide and sulphites at concentrations of more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/L
Lupin
Molluscs
the allergen is not present in the fi nal product (Anon.
2007b
). It is also a mandatory
requirement for foods sold loose in a retail store to be labelled with the allergen or
for the customer to have ready access to information relating to the presence of
allergens, for example, through the provision of product information guides behind
food service counters.
Measures can be implemented in stores to reduce the risk of cross-contamination
with allergens during the preparation, display and serving of foods. Prior to the
measures to prevent allergen cross-contamination in store, it is important that the
component foods bought into the store for preparation, assembly, slicing, etc. are
themselves not already an allergen risk. This should be declared on the label in
accordance with EU regulations and should form part of the product specifi cation
agreed as part of supplier and product assurance programmes (see Sect.
7.3
). The
main risk of cross-contamination in the store occurs during the preparation, display
and serving of the food. The key to preventing allergen cross-contamination is the
use of separate utensils, surfaces/cutting boards, display containers, tongs/slicers
and any other food contact surfaces for allergen-containing and non-allergen-
containing products. This can also be achieved by preparing non-allergen-containing
products fi rst, after a full clean and prior to the preparation of allergen-containing
products. However, in many cases, preparation of products may be necessary
throughout the day, i.e., to order and therefore it is not possible to operate this type
of 'scheduled' segregation.
In addition to cross-contamination risks from allergens, the potential for the use
of the wrong ingredient is also a signifi cant potential risk. This can be exacerbated
when a large number of products are prepared. The key to controlling these hazards
are clearly defi ned recipe sheets for the preparation of products, together with clear
labelling of the components/ingredients.
