For this article Beacon Compliance have teamed up with industry experts www.Klipspringer.com to bring to you three top tips to producing food that is “Free From” with confidence.

“Free From”, it’s a sign of the times, it’s the “in thing”, it’s a “trend”, but in fact for some, it’s quite simply a dietary requirement to function normally day to day. One of the biggest problems for food producers and manufacturers is that allergens can creep their way into any products due to cross contamination from numerous areas of the production floor during operational, personnel and hygiene functions. Not only for the welfare of your consumers but for the reputation of your business, it is crucial that meticulous care is taken to get allergen segregation right.

Tip 1 – Check your suppliers

Even if you do everything right on the production floor, that’s a waste of time, effort and money if your supply chain integrity is not robust. Be sure to check with your suppliers about the allergen content of their ingredients and their own allergen segregation procedures. You should also conduct your own stringent testing before ingredients are used in your production line to ensure that your products remain uncontaminated.

Tip 2 – Meticulous production and cleaning processes

There are some seemingly minor yet fatal mistakes a business can make during production, such as using the same utensils for different products, which will lead to contamination. The best approach is to establish a meticulous and orderly procedure where everything is in its right place and there is no question of it being able to cross-contaminate. One important way of doing this is by using colour-coded equipment and shadow boards, so that all of your employees know exactly what to use and where to keep it, and therefore do not mistakenly spread certain allergens into other products. Careful cleaning practices are also vital for safe allergen management, ensuring that all cleaning conducted during and after production is adequately removing allergenic risks.

Tip 3 – Invest in thorough team training

Implementing strategies and procedures to guard against allergen cross contamination, is all in vain if your employees are not up to the task of enforcing them. Therefore it’s vital to ensure that your employees receive the correct level of training which is both thorough and up to date. Not only should you train employees to adhere to any new standards immediately, but you also need a degree of regularity to your training so that your employees are always on top of any new developments.

For further information on how your company can improve the way allergens are handled visit www.klipsringer.com/about/resources/simplifying-allergen-segregation.

Here at Beacon Compliance, we would like to offer you 10% off your next purchase at Klipspringer, just use code BCOMP1. To talk to us further about our food safety compliance support packages, just get in touch by emailing [email protected], call 01792 986089 or visit www.beacon-compliance.co.uk.