More than 200,000 emergency visits are due to Food allergies each year. Up to 15 million Americans suffer from food allergies, affecting 1 in every 13 children under the age of 18 and bringing the economic cost of children’s food allergies alone to an estimated USD 25 billion per year*.
The increasing volume of recalls due to raw ingredient allergens is alarming. Inconsistent use of allergen risk communication, such as the clear declaration of the presence of allergens on labels, contributes to consumer confusion on what is safe to eat and drink
Allergen-related product recalls reasons
Allergen-related product recalls are mainly a result of some simple operational errors:
- Failure in the review and approval of product labels
- Failure to generate or update labeling
- Failure to notice the presence of allergens on a supplier certificate of analysis
Specification consistency is clue
Effective allergen management is a shared responsibility that requires consistency across the supply chain. For Food and Beverage companies, it is crucial to have specifications consistency from raw material to finished products and labeling, even through formulation. Being able to track and attachedata and documents including certifications to products, considerably eases products / ranges / menus management and regulation implementation.
GFSI certification
More and more companies require their suppliers to be GFSI certified to be included in their list of approved suppliers. A number of manufacturers operate additional allergen control practices and require their suppliers to comply and demonstrate their own management and control plans are in place.
Lascom is a PLM software designed to assist Food and Beverage businesses in their daily tasks. The solution provides features such as:
- A supplier portal, to better collaborate with suppliers. Suppliers can directly input raw material and ingredient specifications on the platform through dedicated access rights.
- An efficient formulation module, to facilitate R&D teams job. The tool automatically calculates costs, weight, nutrition information and risks – including allergens – for each formula. It also offers the option to display or not nutrition claims regarding formula content.
- A unique repository, to benefit from a “single version of the truth”. All data and documents such as certification for instance are stored on the platform. Searches and audit, whether as part of an operating procedure or in emergency situations such as product recalls and health alerts, are considerably easier.
*Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE)
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