Purpose: To determine the most practical, reliable and cost-effective method of allergen verification in real time food manufacturing environments (Small Medium Enterprises) in line with the new requirements of the Global Standard for Food Safety (Issue 6).
Methods: A total of 5 different tests were used to verify the effectiveness of cleaning to remove allergens (gluten, soya, almonds, milk, celery and egg). The test methods used were visual, surface ATP, total protein (incubated at room temperature), total protein (incubated at 55 °C) and allergen-specific lateral flow. Testing was completed at 5 different food processing sites (bakery, baby food and immune-compromised meals, meat products and ready meals). Testing was completed using the exact instructions provided by the swab/test kit supplier.
Results: Allergen presence was demonstrated by each test method pre clean and post clean. A total of 200 tests were completed using above methods across various surfaces in situ. Post clean 100% of the lateral flow tests were negative (no allergen detected). However, 86.5 % of the ‘total protein’ tests on the same surfaces were positive indicating protein presence and the ATP test results on some surfaces did not correlate to the total protein test results
Significance: The results identified ‘total protein’ test as the most sensitive method to assure the manufacturer that allergen cross-contamination had been minimised and therefore reduce the risk of unintentional allergen presence in product and the potential of a product recall. This is especially significant when more than one allergen is present in the manufactured product pre cleaning.