Allergens management in the food industry II: Staff

Good allergens management is not possible without bearing in mind the staff, from the top official, the staff which produce the alimentary products, cleaners to the visitors. We must mainly take care of two aspects: an adequate training in allergens and a good hygiene.

Staff training must consider the following points:

• To have general information about allergens and about the consequences of their undeclared presence in the products.
• To know the allergens presence in raw material and ingredients.
• To be aware about the damages and risks in all the manufacturing stages.
• To be fully abreast of all the measures taken on the design of equipment and installations to reduce the risks in relation to allergens.
• To know the procedures of storage, cleaning, packaging, reprocessing, control of residues and labelling.
• To take into account the Good Manufacturing Practice to reduce cross-contamination.
• To be aware about the procedures of the personal flow in the installations (for example: people who change production lines, movement to the canteen, etc.)
• To know the information of the supplier: specifications, reports.