Allergens
Week 3
Why is it important to be aware of Allergens?
When it comes to developing or serving food to someone that may have a food allergen, it’s important to take as much precaution as possible. This is because in some cases, as little as a few airborne particles of said allergen-causing food can spark a allergic reaction in a consumer. Allergic reactions can be as quick as 5 minutes or as delayed as 2 hours after consumption/inhalation. Signs of a allergic reaction include but are not limited to: Hives, Rashes, Tingling/Itchiness, Swelling, Vomiting, Diarrhea, Cramps, Coughing, Wheezing, Dizziness, & Loss of Consciousness. These conditions can lead to nervous system reactions such as prophylactic shock in which breathing is severely restricted, blood pressure lowers, and swelling that overwhelms the bodies ability to preform homeostasis.
Each Year 30,000 people are sent to the ER for reactions, 2,000 are hospitalized, 150 people die.
The last thing anyone wants is to be responsible for someones death cause of their irresponsible treatment of food in a otherwise preventable situation. It’s also important to understand the difference between a intolerance and a allergy, one is life-threatening the other is not. A food intolerance (also known as food sensitivity) will not cause most of the symptoms above because it is not a immune system response to the protein in the body but rather a inability to digest the protein. This inability can cause bloating, cramps, digestive issues, etc. Whereas a allergy will cause the symptoms above due to the immune system trying to fight the protein ingested which could result in death.
What are the Top 8 common Allergens?
(90% of all allergens fall under these 8 groups despite there being over 160 different known allergens worldwide.)
Milk (Any Dairy)
Eggs
Fish (ex. Bass, Flounder, Cod)
Crustacean Shellfish (ex. Crab, Lobster, Shrimp)
Tree Nuts (ex. Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans)
Peanuts
Wheat (Usually pertains to gluten)
Soybeans (ex. Soy Sauce, Soybean Oil, Soy Protein)
It’s common for people to be allergic to only a select number of foods within a category but it’s better exclude all within a category when dealing with allergen specific foods.
Why is Allergen Awareness Important on a Industrial Level?
Isn’t it great to know that if you go to the store and pick up any food item and be able to look at the package and know if you’ll have a allergic reaction or not. This information is strictly regulated by the USDA and for good reasons. Preventing cross-contamination within large industrial food products is the difference between a million dollar recall and profitability. Looking at the USDA’s inspection requirements for industrial plants we can see that it is primarily focused on a few main categories: HACCP Plan, Sanitation SOPs, GMPs, or other prerequisite programs to address allergens. These systems allow for allergens and other potential hazardous food contaminants to be tracked from origin to consumer.
HACCP Plan
Stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points
7 Main Principles
Conduct Hazard Analysis
Identify Critical Control Points
Establish Critical Limits
Monitor Critical Control Points
Establish Corrective Action
Verification
Record Keeping
Designed to identify potential areas in which hazards can occur. This system allows for the tracking of every operation while maintaining records of all operations. This makes it easy to locate areas with issues and address them. Also states how to fix issues if they arise. In the case of allergens, it enables a plant to find the specific lot which is contaminated and issue recalls accordingly. Following these records will show how and why the fault occurred and how to avoid contamination in the future.
Sanitation SOPs
Stands for Sanitation Standard Operation Procedures
4 Main Requirements
Implementation and Monitoring
Maintenance (Efficiency Checks)
Corrective Action
Record Keeping
Designed to outline Pre-Operation conditions and Active-Operation conditions. This involves all the cleaning procedures to be practiced to avoid possible contamination of products. In the case of allergens, it enables a plant to see where ill-practices were executed and by who and at what time. This also states how to fix the issues if one does occur. Can be part of a HACCP Plan.
GMPs
Stands for Good Manufacturing Practices
Consists of many requirements that are designed to ensure optimal quality from products from start to finish of production. Includes but not limited to:
Equipment
Premise
Materials
Training
Personal Hygiene
Though there are many prerequisite programs available to implement into a production to achieve the same goal, these are the 3 primary ones with HACCP being the most important and widely used due to it’s thoroughness.
Why is Allergen Awareness Important on a Restaurant Level?
For all the same reasons as it’s important on a Industry Level, it is on a Restaurant Level. In most cases restaurants implement HACCP plans because it can cover everything they need. These listings of CCPs are much shorter though considering the fact that their products are less regulated and have a different application environment. Though restaurants still have to be conscious of Allergens, they don’t have to go through such rigorous verification process when implementing a allergen ingredient into a dish. Probably the most apparent and followed rules followed to avoid cross-contamination/contact are color coated cutting boards for different allergen products. Though some places don’t do this, they opt to rotate board between jobs and execute thorough cleanings between use. In addition to cleaning equipment, many restaurants have specific ways in which the kitchens are cleaned to promote a clean environment for employees and production of food for customers.
Many times in a restaurant they will have to find substitute ingredients to accommodate dietary needs or allergens, some of these include but are not limited to:
Aquafaba for Egg Whites
Oats for Nuts
Banana for Eggs
Honey for Corn Syrup
Soybeans for Chickpeas
Flegg for Eggs
Plant-Based Milks for Dairy Milk
Gluten-Free Flour for Convention Flours
What are Food Labeling Requirements?
As of 2011, it wasn’t uncommon to find products that contained allergens despite having no indication on the packaging that the allergen causing ingredient was present. This was in part to companies attempting to hide unhealthy sounding ingredients from the public by naming the products uncommon titles or grouping them in with flavorings/spices. Despite having regulations such as the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA), some products don’t get the appropriate verification they should. These regulations attempted to fix the issue by implementing protocols that require companies to use common allergen names on the packaging that is printed no smaller than the ingredient list. As well, if the product contains any of the major 8 allergens stated above, it must include the phrase “Contains” followed by the allergen sensitive ingredient on the packaging. Trying to work around this regulation can result in large fines and restrictions so it’s best to be thorough with product testing, verification, and approval before sending it off to production for public retail.
If you learned something remember to like and share the article with your friends and family! Also check previous articles where you’ll learn a lot more about food and the complexities that go into providing consumers goods!