Tesco urges suppliers to get house in order on allergens

Allergen management systems are being compromised because food manufacturers are not securing sufficient reassurances from their suppliers, Tesco has argued.

More than a quarter (28%) of raw materials production facilities recently surveyed by quality assurance firm Qadex on behalf of Tesco were unable to provide evidence of a comprehensive allergen management system.

And 8% of product specifications from these sites had incomplete allergen information, revealed Tesco product integrity manager Terry Wilde.

Wilde, who was speaking at an allergen management conference organised by Leatherhead Food International and Campden BRI​, said Tesco was developing a code of practice on allergen management for its own direct suppliers. But they in turn needed to secure more information from their raw materials suppliers, he stressed.

"We understand this can be challenging because you might be buying from agents or traders that haven't even handled the product and production sites are often overseas," he said. "But you need to know whether your suppliers have the right procedures in place and that the information they are supplying you with is reliable."

Manufacturers needed to push their suppliers more, agreed Deryck Tremble at food safety specialist AIB International. "But it's not just a case of asking them if they have an allergen management policy or ensuring they tell you what is in their products. Consider providing them with specifications for the loading and transport of raw materials being shipped to you."

Manufacturers also needed to get their own house in order, said Tremble. He blamed inadequate cleaning regimes, more 24:7 running and constant pressure to conduct changeovers more quickly for some recent problems.

There were more than 60 allergy-related product recalls in 2008, said Sue Hattersley, head of the allergy branch at the Food Standards Agency.

"The wrong product in the wrong packet is still the main cause, but is actually becoming less common. Other reasons were inconsistencies between what is in the allergens box and the ingredients declaration, or the labelling on the outer wraps of multipacks not correlating with labelling on individual packs."

She added: "We're also seeing more recalls because of cross- contamination as well as 'free from' products that test positive for allergens, although this might be due to more sampling by local authorities."

Plain chocolate had tested positive for milk so many times that manufacturers were now putting 'may contain milk' statements on it as a matter of course, she observed.