Allergen risk management in food companies is of outmost importance but is still scarcely developed because of a lack of science based data related to potential carryover of allergens in production lines. In this paper two cases of allergen carryover will be considered using the concept of various indicator proteins which was previously introduced.The first is related to the carryover in a pasteurization unit for liquid food products. Various indicator proteins proved to be inadequate to evaluate carryover in a dairy based matrix because their detectability was affected by various product and process parameters. Gluten proteins could be used however as a suitable indicator for allergen cross-contamination. It was proven that the viscosity of the treated product, either the severity of fouling affected potential allergen carry over.In the second series of experiments, the carryover of allergens via various food matrices (dough, milk, pate, tuna salad, sugar syrup) through adhesion to various food contact materials was considerd using the same indicator allergen approach. It was concluded that the combined properties of the food matrix and the food contact material affected the potential allergen carryover, which was proven however to be independent upon the indicator protein selected.

Allergen risk management via estimation of allergen carry over in production lines for liquid foods and via surface adhesion

248th National Meeting (2014)

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