Do I need an Allergen Management Plan?
Hello,
I must start this off with saying that I am an intern at a food company and brand new to food safety. I don't have much experience to back up my assumption making, so bare with me.
I am updating our food safety plan, and I don't know if I am being too bold with some assumptions. Since all the products we make have the same allergens, I assumed that after all the raw ingredients come into the facility, there should be no potential allergen hazards except for intentional and unintentional adulteration. Now if that isn't too bold, shouldn't a Supplier Approval Program protect at receiving and a Food Defense Plan cover the adulteration? Would I even need an Allergen Management Plan other than to refer back to those two?
Thank you for your time!
Joseph
Welcome to the IFSQN forums! In my opinion I would say YES you should still have one, even if its a glorified reference. It may seem unnecessary at first, however there might be some aspects of allergens you haven't considered, like labeling and declarations, visitors/employees who may be sensitive to allergens, cleanup procedures, raw material storage, two different allergens (probably requiring color coded utensils of some kind) etc. Also, since allergen programs are a mandatory element, I think auditors will expect to see one and the less questions they have and the less digging they do, the better.
Also, I believe SQF requires an allergen risk assessment to be conducted.
We have one allergen on site - egg.
We don't have an allergen management plan.
We have Allergen Policy and HACCP (pre-requisites) analysing the allergen risks at each process point.
I am glad this has been asked as it is on my list!
We have one allergen on site - egg.
We don't have an allergen management plan.
We have Allergen Policy and HACCP (pre-requisites) analysing the allergen risks at each process point.
I am glad this has been asked as it is on my list!
Hi Zoe, may be worth adding to your policy/plan unintentional contamination i.e. staff food on breaks if not already included
We have only 1 allergen, MILK, and have always been asked by auditors and CFIA to see the program - so, it's definitely worth to have Allergen program on site as Food Police mentioned.