Dear Batty,
how do i rate a large company that does not have allergens in the ingredients they supply to us but do have allergens on their site
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I presume “rate” = how do you qualitatively / quantitatively judge/score ……
You do a risk assessment.
One simple risk assessment might be :BRC certification ? Yes = accept (ie no need to label), No = Not accept.
IMEX, most companies are not quite that easily satisfied but it's ultimately up to you.
A formal risk assessment is, typically, at best semi-quantitative, judgemental and depends on your estimate of the likelihood of the hazard (ie cross-contamination) reaching the consumer and the severity of consequences (to you) in the event of a (worst case) subsequent allergen related consumer health incident . i presume these factors in UK involve "due diligence" responsibilities?.
The evaluation/combination/interpretation of the above factors, eg via a risk matrix, requires detailed knowledge of factors such as the product/process/epidemiology and risk expertise. And your choice of decision (acceptance) criteria. A unique formula unfortunately does not exist.
They have BRC/IF accrediation, allergen controls in place. Is this enough to rate the risk of cross contamination as unlikely. After all short of getting rid of all aleergen what more can a compnay do?
Well, in UK, the answer is apparently No since in many cases the buyer does further auditing by their own personnel. This implies some lack of confidence in BRC etc but I daresay the severity factor (in UK) referred above may be highly weighted in some risk assessments and the acceptable risk of a wrong (no-labelling) decision correspondingly low. This is where the expertise comes in.
The alternative of course is to use precautionary labelling which presumably is a strong due diligence defence.
Other UK posters here are are more competent than I to predict the proportion of labelling / no labelling seen in retail (?) practice.
i realise the above is not a very explicit answer but the long-term, on-going global debate over allergen labelling is a reality.
Rgds / Charles.C