This episode of Food Safety Five highlights several recent studies and regulatory developments related to food allergen risk management, including new research on the storage of swabs collected during environmental monitoring, and mitigating cross-contact risks during processing, including risks from shared frying oil and allergenic powder dispersal. Also discussed is the potential adoption of precautionary allergen labeling (PAL) policy in the EU, UK, and U.S., following the release of a Codex PAL framework.

News Articles:

• Study Shows How Swab Storage Time, Temperature Affect Allergen Detection
• Study Shows Filtering Shared Frying Oil Substantially Reduces Allergen Cross-Contamination Risks
• Study Shows How Allergenic Food Powders Spread During Production, Create Cross-Contamination Risk
• EU Considers Adoption of Harmonized Precautionary Allergen Labeling Rules

Additional Reading:

• FAO/WHO Develop Scientific, Risk-Based Framework for Food Allergen Labeling 
• Study Shows FAO/WHO Recommended Thresholds for Precautionary Allergen Labeling Would Protect Consumers
• Researchers Advocate for EU-Wide Legislation on Precautionary Allergen Labeling, Harmonized Monitoring
• UK FSA Shows Support for Codex Precautionary Allergen Labeling Proposals 
• FDA Issues RFI on Gluten Cross-Contact and Labeling for Packaged Foods

Image credit: aleksandarlittlewolf via Freepik