Tag Archives: labeling

By Ainsley Lawrence

Minimizing the risk of contamination is a must if you work in food manufacturing. Accidentally including allergens in your products can cause harm to consumers, undermine your brand image, and lead to hefty lawsuits.

Even major food industry brands like McDonald’s fall foul of food safety laws from time to time. Recently, a man with a dairy allergy was allegedly served cheese in his Big Mac¹, resulting in anaphylactic shock. This caused a large lawsuit and could damage the global food giant’s reputation.

You can take steps to stay in line with regulations and best practices by training your staff and implementing proper procedures. This will reduce the risk of human error and help you produce food that is both tasty and safe for consumers.

Food Safety Modernization Act

Most people think of food contamination as a thing of the past. However, 1 in 6 Americans² fell ill due to foodborne diseases last year. This led to 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. The FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) seeks to end this issue by bringing food manufacturing standards into the modern age. This means you may need to revise your approach to manufacturing to stay on the right side of changing guidelines. At its core, the FSMA includes:

Preventive Controls for Human Foods: Since 2015, food manufacturers have been required to produce a food safety plan. This plan should include key details like potential hazards and risk-mitigation strategies that are currently in place.
Third-Party Accreditation: Receiving a third-party authentication can keep you up to date with changing guidelines. Similarly, only working with suppliers who have been verified via third parties who work to ISO/IEC standards ensures that allergens don’t enter your facility from suppliers.
Preventing Intentional Adulteration: No employer wants to believe that their employees would intentionally harm consumers — but it does happen. The FSMA ruling against intentional adulteration means that you can seek support from the intelligence community if you suspect that a stakeholder is intentionally contaminating your supply.

These FSMA regulations aren’t exhaustive and should be seen as the bare minimum. You’ll still need to take proactive steps to improve communication on the food plant floor³ and should implement policies like proper labeling to keep contaminants and allergens separated.

Proper Labeling

If you’re producing food for public consumption, you must properly label your food. Failing to declare that allergens may enter a certain product will land you in legal trouble and will put consumers at risk. Rather than risking an allergic reaction, follow FDA labeling guidelines⁴ which include:

Clearly labeling the eight major allergens (milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans).
Including the source name of foods (for example, the source name of whey is milk, meaning your label should include “whey (milk)”).
Provide advisory statements like “may contain [allergen]” and “produced in a facility that also uses [allergen].”
Conduct regular testing and monitoring of products and processes to ensure that allergens have not entered the batch.

Taking these steps minimizes the risk of labeling errors and protects consumers. This is particularly important if you want to produce a product that is specifically allergen-free (for example, gluten-free or dairy-free). Failing to declare ingredients properly puts consumers at risk and will land you in hot legal water.

Segregating Allergens

Managing potential allergens is crucial if you work in a food manufacturing plant that produces multiple products. Failing to properly segregate allergens undermines your labeling system and increases the risk of cross-contamination between workstations.

You can minimize the risk of allergens entering the system by using simulations to improve business processes⁵. Virtual simulations are capable of generating scenarios that you may not have thought of but are likely to occur. You can also use constructive simulations to visualize what might happen should an allergen make its way into the supply. This is particularly important when onboarding new employees who may not understand the risk that allergens present to the food production process.

You can also use emerging technology to improve production⁶ and reduce the risk of contamination. For example, as your firm grows, you may want to invest in AI and advanced robotics. Robotics can react quickly to changing demand and are less likely to inadvertently spread allergens throughout your supply. This is particularly important when carrying out repetitive tasks, like filling pre-packaged sandwiches or seasoning foods. Automated robots can take care of these mundane tasks, leaving human workers to focus on more creative tasks.

Some food manufacturers, like Walmart, are also using blockchain technology to trace and track contamination. This can improve your crisis management plan⁷ and bolster operational resilience. Your crisis management team leader can tap into tech to improve communications and simulate potential breaches. This will help you practice your crisis management plan and will ensure that you’re able to pinpoint errors to learn from in the future.

Sanitation Procedures

Regularly sanitizing your workspace is crucial if you want to produce clean, allergen-free goods. This applies to your people, too, who may inadvertently bring allergens in with them when they arrive at work or move between stations.

However, you can’t expect regular handwashing to be enough. Instead, embrace the digital revolution and use data⁸ to clean up your production line. This will improve reporting and ensure that compliance guidelines are followed at all times. For example, if you suspect that your employees are not washing their hands thoroughly enough, you can use digital products to track employee handwashing and time folks while they apply hot, soapy water.

Digital tracking can also alert you to potentially unclean workstations. For example, if you work in a bakery and typically produce most of your dough before dawn, a digital program can track the contaminants that have entered the workspace in order to produce your bread or baked goods. This will alert you to potential allergen risks and ensure that any workstation that has used an ingredient like gluten is properly sanitized in a timely fashion.

Staff Training

Properly training your employees is key to minimizing contamination risk and staying on the right side of regulatory compliance laws. A proper approach to training will empower employees and help them understand the potential risks involved with food manufacturing.

However, proper training doesn’t mean that you should force your workers to sit through hours of PowerPoint. Instead, train smarter, not harder⁹ by conducting training that is:

Legitimate. Before asking folks to engage in further training, ask yourself whether or not you are qualified to speak on the subject. If not, consider bringing in a speaker who is well-respected in the food safety industry.
Authentic. Build a culture of trust and engagement at your workplace by working with speakers and programs that are accredited and up to date with compliance law. This will convince folks that your speakers are worth listening to and that your training programs are worth completing.
Engaging. Don’t force your employees to sit through lengthy seminars without an opportunity to engage. Instead, encourage participation by creating engaging training programs that help folks learn skills as they go.
Simplistic. Food safety can be complex. Cut through this complexity by giving folks simple, actionable steps to take. This will minimize the risk of folks forgetting your policies and will empower employees who want to improve safety at work.

These training principles are well-established in the food production and safety world. Even simple changes, like including a quiz or mock preparation test, will pique people’s interest and ensure that employees are engaged when receiving training. If you fail to run engaging, intelligent training, you put yourself at greater risk of contamination during production.

Conclusion

Following FDA guidelines should keep your consumers safe by minimizing the risk of an allergen entering your workspace. However, you’ll need to go above and beyond minimum requirements if you want to completely eliminate the risk of contamination. Get the ball rolling by embracing the digital revolution and using automation or robotics to handle more mundane tasks. This empowers employees and reduces the risk of human errors during production.

References:

January 29, 2024

TraceGains Acquires NutriCalc

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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TraceGains, a developer and provider of compliance and networked product development software, has acquired NutriCalc, a developer of product labeling and nutrition calculation software that helps professional food businesses reach their recipe nutrition targets and allergen labeling requirements.

“Since developing NutriCalc 30 years ago, it has become the industry standard in nutrition labeling across the globe at companies both large and small. Our acquisition by TraceGains fuels the development of future innovations to the product and provides an immediate benefit to customers today by linking them to a robust ingredient marketplace and streamlining their processes. The combination of these products is powerful,” said Dr. David Bartley, Founder of NutriCalc.

With this acquisition, TraceGains inherits NutriCalc’s technology and wealth of nutritional information. In turn, NutriCalc will have access to TraceGains’ network of more than 70,000 supplier locations and a database of more than 500,000 searchable ingredients and items.

Greg Heartman, VP of Product Management at TraceGains, stressed the significance of integrating NutriCalc into the TraceGains networked ecosystem. “This move enriches TraceGains’ offerings in the Food and Beverage sector, focusing on simplifying and automating processes, integrating AI solutions and enabling manufacturers and suppliers to leverage digital transformation,” he said.

“We’re excited about this acquisition because it offers a unique opportunity to drive industry advancement by merging top-tier nutritional calculation, reporting and labeling solutions with TraceGains’ established compliance and product development leadership,” said Gary Nowacki, CEO of TraceGains.

December 5, 2022

FDA Issues Two New Guidances on Food Allergen Labeling Requirements

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The FDA has issued two new guidance documents on food allergen labeling requirements.

Questions and Answers Regarding Food Allergens, Including the Food Allergen Labeling Requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Edition 5); Guidance for Industry updates the previous edition (Edition 4) with new and revised questions and answers related to the labeling of food allergens, including requirements in the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research Act of 2021 (FASTER Act) and the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA).

The FALCPA amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) by defining the term “major food allergen” and requiring that foods or ingredients that contain a major food allergen be specifically labeled with the name of the allergen source. This law identified eight foods as major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. The FASTER Act adds sesame to the list of major food allergens effective January 1, 2023.

The draft guidance includes:

New questions and answers about food allergen labeling requirements, such as the labeling of sesame, milk, and eggs; the labeling of major food allergens in the labeling of dietary supplement products; and other technical labeling issues.
Revised questions and answers to update and clarify information presented in earlier editions of the final guidance, such as the labeling of tree nuts, fish, and crustacean shellfish.
Images that show examples of labeling requirements.

The agency also issued a final guidance with the same title to preserve the questions and answers from the previous edition (Edition 4) that were not changed, except for editorial changes such as renumbering the questions and reorganizing the information in the guidance.

Stakeholders can submit comments about the draft guidance within 60 days of the November 30 publication of the notice in the Federal Register. Submit comments electronically on www.regulations.gov or by mail:

Dockets Management Staff
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm 1061
Rockville, MD 20852

All written comments should be identified with this document’s Docket ID: FDA-2022-D-0099.

April 21, 2022

FST Soapbox

Three Ways to Ensure Food Safety During Supply Chain Disruptions

By Laura Dunn Nelson

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For the last two years, we consumers have experienced the global supply chain challenges associated with a variety of items such as lack of home appliances, favorite packaged foods or paper towels. And now the Ukraine war has sparked a new supply chain crisis with projected shortages of chemicals, oilseeds, iron, steel, fertilizers, wood, palladium and nickel. It’s clear that disruptions will continue as the world endures a crippled supply chain.

Most consumers don’t consider how supply chain interruptions affect the production and safety of so many of the foods we eat. Delays in any food ingredient or packaging can disrupt production schedules, delay shipments, and lead to empty retail shelves for thousands of food processors, manufacturers and retailers across the globe.

As manufacturers cope with these challenges, they frequently have to identify new suppliers or change processes and formulas on the fly. These unanticipated changes may often lead to shortcuts that can pose significant risks to consumers and cause food recalls.

It’s often hard to imagine all the interdependencies within the global supply chain, but one missed shipment or unavailable product can produce ripple effects throughout the globe. To reduce the risks associated with supply chain delays, food processors should implement resiliency measures such as effective change management and food safety vendor audit programs, detailed product specification and vendor expectation requirements, and multi-sourced vendor strategies.

To address these issues, this article reviews three ways food manufacturers can continue to minimize delays and reduce food safety risks when the supply chain interrupts production.

Learn more about how to address risks in the supply chain by viewing the Food Safety Tech Hazards Series: Supply Chain | On Demand1. Empower Workers to Report Issues

It’s always important to remember that employees can be the best defense against food safety threats. They’re the ones who interact with the products day-to-day and have the most familiarity with the ingredients. Their expertise is especially important now that supply chain disruptions are introducing new issues and anomalies.

Food manufacturers should train employees to understand which ingredients and products are acceptable and encourage them to speak up when they notice any anomalies. It’s also critical that training instills in workers the idea that they share the responsibility to ensure the safety and quality of the products they produce.

When frontline employees have the authority and the autonomy to alert their supervisors when they see something unusual or unexpected, they can become a powerful weapon in the food safety risk prevention arsenal. Harnessing the eyes of all your employees as your ultimate quality control team will help prevent costly recalls, product rework and further production delays.

2. Review Supplier Specs

When food manufacturers start working with a new supplier, they should take the necessary time to review their detailed product specifications to understand the technical and functional aspects of their product. From nutritional values and potential allergens to ingredients and chemical properties, it’s critical to have a full picture of what goes into the product before incorporating it into your manufacturing process.

As a best practice, manufacturers should also ask for a copy of the supplier’s recent GFSI food safety audits or equivalent and proof of liability insurance.

It’s also critical to thoroughly review vendor product specifications to confirm that a newly sourced ingredient meets your purchase expectations, label requirements, and food safety and quality risk profile. Considering how quickly an interruption can occur, it’s important to establish new vendor expectations and develop a supplier questionnaire. In addition, always plan ahead by sourcing multiple backup suppliers prior to ingredient and packaging disruptions.

3. Examine Supplier Labels

Understanding the product specifications is a critical first step, but it’s equally important to compare the label to the specs to ensure it is compliant and expected.

When a package arrives on the dock, receivers need to know if the contracted product has arrived as specified. Is the product packaged correctly, within expected shelf life, in a sanitary condition? Receivers should answer these and other questions by looking for inconsistencies per pallet like mixed lot codes and product shelf-life variances. Employees should also check the condition of incoming products including noting unusual odors or colors that might not seem right or for packaging that looks different from prior shipments.

The ongoing supply chain disruptions are predicted to continue this year, which means they can potentially cause food safety challenges based on inconsistencies in raw materials and undocumented process changes in production. Food safety leaders must hone their change management skills to successfully lead their organizations through these challenging times.

Adhering to the strict practices detailed in this article might seem like a lot of extra work and attention, but it’s actually something food manufacturers should be doing all the time as part of a mature food safety culture.

January 25, 2022

FSIS Reflects on 2021, Points to Progress in Transparency, More Collaboration

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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Just as FDA recently called out its 2021 achievements, USDA’s FSIS is highlighting its efforts from last year. In a news release issued last week, the agency pointed to several areas of progress, including:

Stronger moves to reduce Salmonella illnesses from poultry products. The initiative seeks more innovative methods for pathogen control.
Supporting small and very small plants via trying to take the cost burden off these establishments. The agency lowered overtime and holiday inspection fees for small establishments by 30% and by 75% for very small establishments.
Proposed rulemaking related to the labeling of meat and poultry products that are comprised of or contain cultured cells from animals.
Review of “Product of USA” labeling.
Collaboration with public health partners that include the FDA and CDC. The agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enable more efficient use of resources.

A full review of the FSIS 2021 highlights are available on the agency’s website.

December 20, 2021

Food Fraud Quick Bites

Location, Location, Location

By Susanne Kuehne

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Wine fraud — Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database, owned and operated by Decernis, a Food Safety Tech advertiser. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

Consumers are increasingly requesting food and beverages to be authentic, especially when it comes to wine and its concept of terroir. Lambrusco wine has a Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) status—only wine that is grown in these specific regions in Italy can be labeled Lambrusco. In this study, chemical and isotopic compositions were used to determine geographic origin. Specific boron, strontium and lead isotopes can be used to determine climate conditions and plant localities, translating into geographic locations of origins of food and beverages.

Resource

Lancellotti, L., et al. (2021). “Tracing geographical origin of Lambrusco PDO wines using isotope ratios of oxygen, boron, strontium, lead and their elemental concentration”. Current Research in Food Science. Science Direct.

August 23, 2021

Food Fraud Quick Bites

If Fish Could Talk

By Susanne Kuehne

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Seafood fraud is still on an almost unchanged high level in Canada. Based on a 2021 investigation by Oceana Canada, 46% of 94 DNA tested seafood samples were not what the label claimed them to be. The Oceana report describes seafood traceability in Canada, the 2021 seafood fraud investigation and results, what consumers can do, and suggestions for the federal government on how to mitigate seafood fraud. These recommendations include setting up a traceability system, labeling standards, improving testing standards and better documentation in the supply chain.

Resource

Oceana. (August 2021). “Seafood Fraud in Canada: 2021 Testing Results Report”.

August 9, 2021

Key Trends Reinforce Food Allergen Testing Market Across North America

By Saloni Walimbe

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The food allergen testing industry has garnered considerable traction across North America, especially due to the high volume of processed food and beverages consumed daily. Allergens are becoming a significant cause for concern in the present food processing industry worldwide. Food allergies, which refer to abnormal reactions or hypersensitivity produced by the body’s immune system, are considered a major food safety challenge in recent years and are placing an immense burden on both personal and public health.

In 2019, the most common reason behind recalls issued by the USDA FSIS and the FDA was undeclared allergens. In light of this growing pressure, food producers are taking various steps to ensure complete transparency regarding the presence of allergenic ingredients, as well as to mitigate risk from, or possibly even prevent contact with, unintended allergens. One of these steps is food allergen testing.

Allergen detection tests are a key aspect of allergen management systems in food processing plants and are executed at nearly every step of the process. These tests can be carried out on work surfaces, as well as the products, to detect any cross contamination or allergen presence, and to test the effectiveness of a food processing unit’s cleaning measures.
There has been a surge in awareness among consumers about food allergies and tackling the risk of illnesses that may arise from consuming any ingredient. One of the key reasons for a higher awareness is efforts to educate the public. In Canada, for example, May has been designated “Food Allergy Awareness Month”. It is estimated that more than 3 million people in Canada are affected by food allergies.

The size of the global food allergen testing market is anticipated to gain significant momentum over the coming years, with consistent expansion of the dairy, processed food and confectionary segments.

Understanding the Prevailing Trends in Food Allergen Testing Industry

Food allergies risen nearly 50% in the last 10 years, with a staggering 700% increase observed in hospitalizations due to anaphylaxis. Studies also suggest that food allergies are a growing health concern, with more than 250 million people worldwide estimated to be affected.

Although more than 170 foods have been identified as causing food allergies in sensitive consumers, the USDA and the FDA have identified eight major allergenic foods, based on the 2004 FALCPA (the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act). These include eggs, milk, shellfish, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, soybean, and wheat, which are responsible for 90% of allergic reactions caused due to food consumption. In April 2021, the FASTER (Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research) Act was signed into law, which categorized sesame as the ninth major food allergen.

This ever-increasing prevalence of allergy-inducing foods has presented lucrative opportunities for the food allergen testing industry in recent years since food processing business operators are placing a strong emphasis on ensuring transparency in their products’ ingredient lists. By testing for allergens in food products, organizations can accurately mention each ingredient, and thereby allow people with specific food allergies to avoid consuming them.

Several allergen detection methods are used in the food processing industry, including mass spectrometry, DNA-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as well as ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), to name a few. The FDA, for instance, created a food allergen detection assay, called xMAP, designed to simultaneously identify 16 allergens, including sesame, within a single analysis, along with the ability to expand for the targeting of additional food allergens. Such industry advancements are improving the monitoring process for undeclared allergen presence in the food supply chain and enabling timely intervention upon detection.

Furthermore, initiatives, such as the Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling (VITAL), created and managed by the Allergen Bureau, are also shedding light on the importance of allergen testing in food production. The VITAL program is designed to support allergen management with the help of a scientific process for risk assessment, in order to comply with food safety systems like the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point), with allergen analysis playing a key role in its application.

ELISA Gains Prominence as Ideal Tool for Food Allergen Testing

In life sciences, the detection and quantification of various antibodies or antigens in a cost-effective and timely manner is of utmost importance. Detection of select protein expression on a cell surface, identification of immune responses in individuals, or execution of quality control testing—all these assessments require a dedicated tool.

ELISA is one such tool proving to be instrumental for both diagnostics as well as research). Described as an immunological assay, ELISA is used commonly for the measurement of antibodies or antigens in biological samples, including glycoproteins or proteins.

While its utility continues to grow, ELISA-based testing has historically demonstrated excellent sensitivity in food allergen testing applications, in some cases down to ppm (parts per million). It has a distinct advantage over other allergen detection methods like PCR, owing to the ability to adapt to certain foods like milk and oils, where its counterparts tend to struggle. The FDA is one of the major promoters of ELISA for allergen testing in food production, involving the testing of food samples using two different ELISA kits, prior to confirming results.

Many major entities are also taking heed of the growing interest in the use of ELISA for food allergen diagnostics. A notable example of this is laboratory analyses test kits and systems supplier, Eurofins, which introduced its SENSISpec Soy Total protein ELISA kit in September 2020. The enzyme immunoassay, designed for quantitative identification of soy protein in swab and food samples, has been developed by Eurofins Immunolab to measure residues of processed protein in various food products, including instant meals, chocolate, baby food, ice cream, cereals, sausage, and cookies, among others.

In essence, food allergens continue to prevail as high-risk factors for the food production industry. Unlike other pathogens like bacteria, allergenic proteins are heat resistant and stable, and cannot easily be removed once present in the food supply chain. In this situation, diagnostic allergen testing, complete segregation of allergenic substances, and accurate food allergen labeling are emerging as the ideal courses of action for allergen management in the modern food production ecosystem, with advanced technologies like molecular-based food allergy diagnostics expected to take up a prominent role over the years ahead.

June 7, 2021

Trends in Consumer Buying Behavior: Complimentary Webinar June 16

By Food Safety Tech Staff

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What matters to consumers when they buy food and beverage products, and what do they see on labels? Next week, food safety professionals can gains from insight on this topic during a complimentary Food Safety Tech webinar.

Sponsored by DNV, this virtual event will present research results conducted by DNV and (independently) Natalia Velikova, Ph.D., professor and associate director at Texas Tech University and Sophie Ghvanidize, Ph.D., agribusiness lecturer at Geisenheim University in Germany on consumer behavior and trust, when buying well established and novice food and beverage product brands, along with the impact of information on labels regarding products nutritional and health benefits, environmental impact of production and social responsibility of producers on consumer choices.

Event: What matters to consumers when buying food & beverage products, and what do they see on labels?
When: Wednesday, June 16, 1 pm ET
Where: Your office
Register for this complimentary virtual event now.

June 1, 2021

Food Fraud Quick Bites

An Appellation Hodgepodge

By Susanne Kuehne

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In Italy’s Tuscany / Maremma region a fraud system with a broad scope that included clandestine meat, vegetable and fruits was set up by a company that claimed to sell these items from their own production. Included in this fraud was a significant amount of wine, some of which was violating health regulations. The products were either mislabeled by removing original labels, or they did not have any labeling and traceability. Due to their questionable origin and potential impact on human health, the products were seized by officials and scheduled for destruction.

Food fraud, Italy — Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database, owned and operated by Decernis, a Food Safety Tech advertiser. Image credit: Susanne Kuehne

Resource

Editorial Staff (April 29, 2021) “Macellazione clandestina e falsa “produzione propria” su frutta e verdura: imprenditore denunciato per frode”. Il Giunco il quotidiano della Maremma

Food Safety Modernization Act

Proper Labeling

Segregating Allergens

Sanitation Procedures

Staff Training

Conclusion

Learn more about how to address risks in the supply chain by viewing the Food Safety Tech Hazards Series: Supply Chain | On Demand1. Empower Workers to Report Issues

2. Review Supplier Specs

3. Examine Supplier Labels

Resource

Resource

Understanding the Prevailing Trends in Food Allergen Testing Industry

ELISA Gains Prominence as Ideal Tool for Food Allergen Testing

Resource

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