Allergens

Resources for creating and implementing an allergen control program/plan.

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General

A guide and FAQ about developing an allergen control plan in both english and spanish
An overview of sanitations procedures to control allergens. This includes common components of sanitation standard operating procedures, successful sanitation approaches, and other approaches for limiting allergen cross contact.
A short video that explains the difference between cross-contact vs cross-contamination of different foods, and how each can make people sick.
A brief FAQ sheet that explains what the eight major allergens are and how to disclose them
Keywords: allergens, GMPs, labeling
A guide to writing an allergen control plan, including necessary topics that a plan should address such as: supplier monitoring, plant traffic flow, raw material storage, color-coding systems for utensils used with allergens, production scheduling, cleaning, use of rework, evaluation of program effectiveness, label review policies, frequency of plan review, documentation and documentation review of activities, and employee education. Please note that this post predates 21 CFR 117 and updated resources should also be consulted.

Federal

An extensive guide through food labeling requirements
An introduction to food allergies, including what the eight major allergens are, the need for labeling, other common allergens and allergenic substances, and consumer information regarding allergens.

Sesame

A guidance document from the FDA containing recommendations for labeling sesame as an allergen. Please not that this guidance was drafted prior to the FASTER Act, which will require sesame disclosure on foods.
This article explains recent updates to allergen labeling requirements to include sesame labeling by January 1, 2023.