Food allergens
allergen, which may be a singular allergen, a combination of a few common allergens, or all the 14 main allergens. That is, that the product recipe does not use any ingredients or compound ingredients (including additives and processing aids) containing the specified allergen.
Additionally, to claim it is ‘free-from’, a product should be made in an environment following safe allergen management procedures, and a sampling and testing process that is robust, validated, and traceable should be in place. Meals and products that deliberately
exclude certain allergens from the recipe (but do not undergo laboratory testing) should not be considered ‘free-from’ but instead, they would be categorised as ‘made without’. While every precaution is taken to avoid cross-contact in this case, small quantities of an allergen, below the amount required for a ‘may contain’ statement, could still be present. Meals ‘made without’ an allergen may be suitable for someone living with a mild hypersensitivity, but this should be considered on a person-by-person basis once their intolerance levels have been considered.
For residents with a severe food allergy
or coeliac disease, ‘free from’ are the only safe option. At apetito, a sample of every batch of our Allergen Free range undergoes lab testing to provide assurance that no cross-contamination has occurred, or it is within the legal thresholds.
Preventing cross-contamination The biggest challenge for kitchen teams catering for those with severe allergies is cross-contamination. Cross-contamination is when a ‘safe food’ has been exposed to an allergen which can occur at any point when food is being handled, including preparation, cooking, storage and serving. Therefore, it can be challenging to avoid,
especially if homes are scratch cooking for many residents with varying dietary needs and allergies. In the recent Nourishing Lives research report conducted by apetito and Care England, it was found that 40 per cent of homes worry about contamination of food when it comes to preparation, and that preparing individual dishes to the highest level of food safety was time-consuming.2 To reduce the risk of cross-contamination, all areas of handling need to be considered, from receiving the ingredients to serving the resident their meal. For best practice, separate colour-coded equipment should be used when preparing allergen free meals, including utensils, chopping boards, and, where possible, a separate workspace. You can also reduce the risk of cross- contamination by preparing and serving allergen free meals first. Alternatively, using pre-prepared meals can help to mitigate some of these risks for care homes as they will have been produced in a strictly controlled environment, safely packed, and labelled – providing a safe and more convenient option when catering for diverse dietary needs. Pre-prepared meals also support kitchen staff who may be
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