Did you know that a tiny crumb of peanut can trigger a life-threatening allergic reaction in some people? Food allergens can spread through the air and by touch, which makes preventing them much harder than you’d expect. Allergic reactions can happen so fast that some people can even go into shock within minutes after eating!

Every year, millions of people worldwide are affected by the food they consume. Symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever can range from mild to life-threatening. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), contaminated food is responsible for an estimated 600 million cases of illness and 420,000 deaths annually.

Foodborne illnesses have been a global health concern for a long time, but in the last decades, food allergies have also become a growing issue in food safety.

What Are Food Allergies?

Food allergy happens when your immune system mistakenly identifies certain proteins in food as harmful and reacts to defend the body. In simple terms, your body is trying to protect you from something it wrongly sees as a threat.

These substances that trigger allergic reactions are called allergens. The most commonly known allergens, which are responsible for approximately 90% of food allergies, are milk, egg, soy, peanut, tree nuts, wheat, fish, sesame, and shellfish.

For some people, the symptoms may be uncomfortable but manageable, such as skin rash, itchy skin, swelling of your face, lips, or tongue, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. But for others, the reaction can be frightening and even life-threatening, known as anaphylaxis. That causes your airways to tighten or lead to a dangerous drop in blood pressure.

Being allergic to any specific food is a health condition, so people with food allergies need to be careful in selection of food for consumption.

“There are still too many situations where people do not recognize that food allergy is a medical condition, not a food preference,” said Anna MuñozFurlong, founder and CEO of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN; Fairfax, VA, USA).

Can You Prevent Food Allergies?

Currently, there is no cure for food allergies, thus food-allergic consumers must avoid the food to which they are allergic to. Some food allergies can go away over time, and research shows that the severity of food allergies can also change throughout time.

Here are some strategies to reduce the risk:

• If you are breastfeeding and not allergic, eat peanuts and other common allergens regularly.
• Talk to your baby’s doctor about when and how to start new foods. They may recommend introducing allergens to your child earlier or under the supervision of a provider.
• Once your child tries allergenic foods safely, keep offering them foods they are not allergic to—like nuts, milk, and eggs. This may help reduce the risk of allergies later on.

The Importance of Allergen Management in the Food Industry

An allergen management plan is a structured document used by food businesses to follow and keep people safe from food allergens. It helps them handle allergenic ingredients carefully, avoid accidental mixing with other foods (cross-contact), and give correct information to customers about allergens in their products.

No matter if you make packaged foods or serve meals in a café, every food business needs an allergen management plan. It is important because it helps protect lives, it keeps them safe. Simple as that.

No one in the food industry wants to be the reason someone ends up in the hospital due to an allergic reaction. Keep in mind that around 6% of adults and 8% of children in the U.S. have food allergies — that is a lot of people counting on the allergen management to handle food safely and accurately.

In the U.S., the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires food manufacturers to control allergens as part of their safety plan. In the U.K. and EU, food businesses must also manage allergens carefully and clearly label them for consumers.

According to the Regulation, the name of any substance that can cause an allergy or intolerance must be clearly highlighted in the ingredients list—such as by using a different font, style, or background color—so it stands out from the rest.

The FDA checks food labels to make sure major allergens are listed correctly and inspects food facilities to see if they are taking steps to prevent cross-contact. If there is a problem, the FDA helps companies recall the products and alert the public. They can also remove unsafe products from stores or stop imported products from entering the country.

How to Cope with Allergen Management

The international standard for food safety management systems, ISO 22000, emphasizes that allergens are food safety hazards. And according to it, organizations are required to control food safety hazards, including allergens, in order to ensure that the food they produce is safe.

Food businesses that follow the ISO 22000 food safety standard are already taking steps to manage allergens, since this is one of the basic requirements of the standard. There is also a technical guide called ISO 22002-1:2009, which helps companies create and run an allergen management plan using a science-based approach called risk analysis and the HACCP principles.

How PECB Can Help

PECB is committed to supporting food businesses and professionals in managing food safety and allergens effectively. We offer ISO 22000 training courses and certification services.

Check these training courses below and find the one that suits you best:

1. ISO 22000 Foundation (2 days)
2. ISO 22000 Lead Implementer (5 days)
3. ISO 22000 Lead Auditor (5 days)

With these training courses, you will learn how to:

• Understand the key ideas behind food safety management
• Help companies improve how they handle food safety
• Apply best practices and controls across the food chain
• Reduce the risk of contamination in food and the workplace
• Set up systems to track food products (traceability)
• Create value and stay competitive in the market
• Check if a company meets ISO 22000 standards

About the Author 

Albulena Veliu is a Marketing Copyeditor at PECB. She is responsible for refining and reviewing content to ensure clarity, consistency, and alignment with PECB’s editorial standards. For any questions, feel free to reach out to her at support@pecb.com.