Allergens represent a serious and potentially life-threatening food safety risk. According to the FDA millions of Americans have allergic reactions to food and food ingredients every year and controlling this problem is a major concern for all parts of the food industry. For food processors, incorrect allergen warnings represent the most frequent cause of food recalls.  For retailers and food service, allergens represent a very real, immediate, and growing threat.  The prevalence of food allergies among children increased 18% during 1997–2007, and allergic reactions to foods have become the most common cause of anaphylaxis in community health settings.  In 2006, about 88% of schools had one or more students with a food allergy.  Although there is a good understanding of the risk of allergens, the ways to control that risk is less clear.  The only way for a person who has a food allergy to control their risk is complete avoidance of the food(s) they are allergic too.  The question then for food processors, retailers, and food service operations is: How can we help those with food allergies avoid the items they are allergic to?  This symposium will discuss allergen control and risk mitigation in a variety of food processing and handling settings. It will address sanitation solutions that do, and sometimes do not work for allergen control. How to validate those control measures and the impact that FSMA and other regulations have on allergen control.

Presentations