Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development MANAGEMENT of FOOD ALLERGENS in the FOOD INDUSTRY*
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www.jard.edu.pl http://dx.doi.org/10.17306/J.JARD.2018.00388 Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development pISSN 1899-5241 1(47) 2018, 73–80 eISSN 1899-5772 Accepted for print: 22.01.2018 MANAGEMENT OF FOOD ALLERGENS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY* Bogdan Pachołek1, Sylwia Sady1, Emilia Kupińska-Adamczyk 1Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland Abstract. Ensuring food safety for people suffering from INTRODUCTION various intolerances faces serious threats posed by allergens which have become a challenge for food manufacturers and Food safety is an important part of the system for the mass caterers. These businesses are required to develop protection of human health. The main objectives of and implement appropriate programs to manage allergens the European Union’s food safety policy include pro- present in their sites. The purpose of this paper was to ana- lyze the actions taken by food manufacturers with respect to viding consumers with safe, high-quality food and substances and products causing allergies or food intolerances with reliable, accurate and transparent information in the context of providing consumers with a safe, properly about food products. Every food company must ensure labeled product. To achieve the objective of this study, a data that food safety is not compromised, and has to provide analysis and synthesis method was employed based on re- accurate information on their offering so that the con- quirements defined in obligatory and non-obligatory stand- sumer can make a choice being well-informed. ards for food safety assurance and management in the food Substances and products causing food allergies or production sector. In summary, as regards allergen manage- intolerances are common, and are safe for most people. ment, the companies must create appropriate conditions and However, in case of food-sensitive consumers, such take adequate measures (including the analysis of risks due to intentional and adventitious presence of allergens in food, and products may result in various dangerous and unpre- the implementation of appropriate preventive actions). Solu- dictable symptoms. Therefore, it is extremely important tions provided in the mandatory standards, mainly GHP and for this vulnerable group to find and choose responsi- HACCP, as well as in non-mandatory standards, such as ISO bly produced and accurately labeled food products. This 22000, BRC, IFS and SQF, may be helpful in the management has become a major challenge and obligation for food of substances causing allergies or intolerances. manufacturers because food allergens pose a real threat to human health and life. Keywords: food allergens, food intolerance, allergens man- agement, food safety assurance and management systems FOOD ALLERGENS: THREATS FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY Nowadays, societies are suffering from growing num- ber of health problems caused by allergic reactions. *Publication costs were financed by Poznań University of Economics and Business. PhD Eng Bogdan Pachołek, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Al. Niepodleglości 10, 61-875 Poznań, Poland, e-mail: [email protected] © Copyright by Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego w Poznaniu Pachołek, B., Sady, S., Kupińska-Adamczyk, E. (2018). Management of food allergens in the food industry. J. Agribus. Rural Dev., 1(47), 73–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.17306/J.JARD.2018.00388 Allergens are commonly occurring substances which re- allergen content are subject to some constraints. How- sult in a number of undesirable symptoms experienced ever, attempts are made to determine safe levels for ma- by a group of people with a genetically determined jor allergens in food products using the available clinical disturbance of IgE levels: cutaneous lesions; digestive, data as a reference point. Zurzolo (2014) presented safe respiratory and cardiovascular reactions (e.g. urticaria, concentrations for 11 selected allergens based on data laryngeal edema, angioedema of lips, tongue or face; provided by The Allergen Bureau’s VITAL (Voluntary asthma; rhinitis; vomiting; diarrhea; hypotension; and Incidental Trace Allergen Labeling) Program, launched life-threatening anaphylactic shocks) (Słowianek and in 2007 in Australia and New Zealand (Table 1). The VI- Leszczyńska, 2011; Weng et al., 2016). These reactions TAL Program is a standardized allergen risk identifica- include food allergies which have contributed to estab- tion process for the food industry which allows the as- lishing a separate food manufacturing sector specifically sessment of likely sources of allergen cross contact from targeted at those consumers. raw materials and the processing environment, plus an Food allergy is defined as an adverse immune-medi- ated response which occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food and is absent during its avoidance. While Table 1. Eliciting doses (ED) for common allergens causing that food is generally not harmful to the population, it can allergies or intolerances affect personal eating habits of patients suffering from -al lergy (Górecka et al., 2013; Turnbull et al., 2015). Accord- Substances or products causing allergies Protein level ing to data from the “Epidemiology of Allergic Disease or intolerances* (mg) in Poland” project, food allergies affect 13% of children Cereals containing gluten, namely: wheat, rye, 1 aged 6–7, 11% of children aged 13–14 and 5% of adults barley, oats, spelt, kamut and products thereof (Samoliński et al., 2008). Almost 90% of all IgE-medi- Crustaceans and products thereof 1 ated food allergies (including anaphylaxis) are caused by the consumption of specific food ingredients and prod- Eggs and products thereof 0.03 ucts, primarily including: milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, Fish and products thereof 0.1 nuts, peanuts, soybeans and wheat (Przybylski, 2016). Peanuts and products thereof 0.2 There are clear and hidden food allergens. The rea- son for the occurrence of the first group is the nature Soybeans and products thereof 1 and composition of the food product. Hidden allergens, Milk and products thereof (including lactose) 0.1 in turn, are neither ingredients nor components of the Nuts, namely: almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, 0.1 product; their presence is unintended or accidental. The cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, identification of hidden allergens is usually based on the macadamia or Queensland nuts and products analysis of statements made by suppliers of raw materi- thereof als, intermediate and finished products and all other pro- Celery and products thereof N/A duction materials which include allergens, are used in the plant during various manufacturing processes and, Mustard and products thereof 0.05 as a result of cross-contamination, may potentially infil- Sesame seeds products thereof 0.2 trate the products (Dzwolak, 2015; Ukleja-Sokołowska Sulfur dioxide and sulfites at concentrations of N/A and Bartuzi, 2015). more than 10 mg/kg For most allergens, except for sulfur dioxide or 10 mg/l expressed as SO2 (10 ppm) and gluten (20 ppm), it is difficult to specify Lupin and products thereof 4 the acceptable consumption threshold which, if not ex- ceeded, guarantees the absence (or a very low likelihood) Molluscs and products thereof N/A of side effects experienced by allergy sufferers. Setting *Substances or products causing allergies or intolerances based the thresholds is difficult because the phenomenon (and on Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and its importance in the dose-effect relationship) is highly of the Council of October 25, 2011. unpredictable. Also, the detection and quantification Source: Allen et al., 2014; Ukleja-Sokołowska and Bartuzi, 2015; tools currently used in the testing methods to assess the Zurzolo, 2014. 74 www.jard.edu.pl Pachołek, B., Sady, S., Kupińska-Adamczyk, E. (2018). Management of food allergens in the food industry. J. Agribus. Rural Dev., 1(47), 73–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.17306/J.JARD.2018.00388 evaluation of the amount present (Ukleja-Sokołowska systematically analyzes and, if necessary, updates the and Bartuzi, 2015). list of substances or products causing allergies or in- The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tolerances by adopting delegated acts. Regulation (EU) is the method most commonly used in laboratory analy- 1169/2011 also obliges food manufacturers to label al- ses to detect and quantify substances which cause al- lergens present in both packaged and unpackaged prod- lergies or intolerances. Is it employed for quantitative ucts (marketed in bulk or served in restaurants and bars). detection of specific proteins in substances or prod- As stated in the Regulation, the name of the substance or ucts causing allergies in foodstuffs using polyclonal or product causing allergy or intolerance must be empha- monoclonal antibodies conjugated to a specific enzyme. sized through a typeset that clearly distinguishes it from Other currently developed detection tests include: LFA the rest of ingredients list, for example by means of the (lateral flow immunochromatographic assay), biosen- font, style or background color. sors, and PCR-based DNA analyses. Most food process- Legal regulations applicable to food do not provide ing plants rely on quick test strips to detect allergens in precise requirements on how to label hidden allergens food. This is an easy and effective method for detecting that may potentially cross-contaminate the products. trace amounts of allergens in food products. The unintended presence of allergens in the final prod- The European Union