Allergen management checklist

Know your allergens

• The site uses the list of common allergens in Regulation R146 of 2010 (egg, cow's milk, crustaceans and molluscs, fish, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, and the significant cereals containing gluten) and adds any customer or export-market allergens (for example sesame, mustard, celery, lupin, sulphites).
• Every ingredient, processing aid and finished product has its allergen profile recorded, from a written supplier declaration that also states cross-contact on the supplier's own lines.
• An allergen risk assessment maps where each allergen enters, is stored, handled, opened, processed, reworked and packed, and names the control at each point (Codex CXC 80-2020).
• The assessment is reviewed when a recipe, supplier, line, layout or market changes, and at least annually.

Control on the floor

• Allergen-containing materials are received, labelled and stored so they cannot contaminate other materials: segregated or below, sealed, in dedicated or lidded containers.
• Production is scheduled from allergen-free to allergen-containing where possible, and the schedule shows where a validated clean is needed.
• Dedicated or colour-coded utensils, scoops, boards, cloths and protective clothing are used for allergen handling, and the colour code is displayed and trained.
• Cleaning at allergen changeover has been validated (the method removes the allergen to below a defined level, shown by testing) and is verified each time by a check that is recorded (see the cleaning validation and environmental monitoring checklist).
• Rework is used only in a product with the same or a wider allergen profile, and the rule is written and followed.
• Open-product areas control airborne allergens (flour, milk powder, nut dust) with layout, timing or extraction, where the risk assessment identifies them.

Label and customer

• The ingredient list declares every common allergen in the product, including those in compound ingredients, in the words the regulation requires (see the label compliance checklist).
• The label is checked against the recipe before every print run and after every recipe change, and the check is signed.
• Precautionary 'may contain' statements are used only where the risk assessment shows cross-contact cannot be controlled, not as a substitute for control.
• In a restaurant, canteen or store, allergen information for every menu item or unpackaged product is written down, current, and available to the customer on request.
• Front-of-house staff know where the allergen information is, how to answer a customer and when to call the chef or manager.
• Products with an allergen the kitchen or line does not normally handle (a new recipe, a promotional product) go through the risk assessment before the first run.

People and response

• Every food handler has completed allergen awareness training, and the people who do the risk assessment, the validation and the labelling have completed the management-level course.
• An allergen incident procedure covers a mislabelled product, a customer reaction and a cross-contact discovery, including withdrawal, recall and notification (the National Consumer Commission under section 60 of the Consumer Protection Act, the Department of Health and affected customers), and it has been tested.
• Complaints that mention allergens are flagged, investigated to root cause and trended.