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Allergens
A food allergy can be described as a condition in which certain foods trigger an abnormal immune response. This immune system reaction can arise from even a tiny amount of allergy-causing food, resulting in digestive problems, hives or swollen airways. If a customer has a food allergy, there is a chance that they may experience a severe form of allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis may begin suddenly and may lead to death if not immediately treated.
In Australia and New Zealand there are 10 foods or food groups that cause about 90% of all allergic reactions:
- Peanuts - Tree nuts - Soy - Milk - Lupin
- Egg - Cereals - Seafood - Fish - Sesame
CROSS CONTACT
Cross- contact occurs when an allergen from one food is transferred to another food during the storage, preparation, or cooking process. Unlike cross-contamination, cooking does not reduce the allergen in that food, which means the chances of that person having an allergic reaction is not reduced.
People with food allergies have varied levels of food allergen reactions, but because some end up in the hospital at the mere cross-contact of tiny food particles or food dust, appropriate precautions must be taken seriously in all cases.
Food to Food Cross Contact: It may seem obvious that when food touches other food, particles from each food item are left on the other. However, simply removing nuts from a cake will not remove the allergen from the cake. Cross-contact has already occurred and the cake is now a danger to the person allergic to nuts.
Food to Object Cross Contact: This involved allergen particles being transferred to pans, utensils, and cooking surfaces. Wiping nuts off of a prep area, quickly rinsing a pan before adding the next food item, using the same spatula or tongs for different dishes, these are all examples of improper food handling and allergen cross-contact.
We have procedures to prevent Cross Contact and Cross Contamination
- Any product containing or decorated with nuts must be stored on separate cooling rack or oven rack after baking. No nut free products are allowed on the same rack.
- Where varied recipes are used in succession throughout the day, recipes which do not contain nuts are always made first.
- Alfoil used for cakes are disposed as recyclable waste
- All nut-biscuits tray papers are kept separate from non nut biscuits in labelled blue boxes
- Put signs up outside the immediate gluten free production area "Gluten Free Only" and put signs up as "Gluten Free Clean" or "NOT Gluten Free Clean" to make sure staff are aware of taking in bakery ingredients that are only gluten free and to make sure staff only uses machines and utensils that have been clean and are gluten free.
- Gluten free products must be the only product cooked for the day. No ‘normal’ products are to be manufactured at the same time.
- Remove your apron when you have lunch to make sure any food we eat does not cross contaminate when coming back to bakery area
There are many reasons for cleaning but the most important reasons are to ensure that all surfaces and equipment that come into contact with food are not contaminated with food poisoning bacteria and to avoid allergens ingredients cross contact.
There are forms to be filled when doing nut clean and gluten free clean.
MACHINERY CLEAN
- The Hopper Topper, cake depositing machine, edhard depositer, mixers, dough machine, biscuit machines and dishwasher in the bakery, are given an end of day clean at the end of ‘nut production runs’. Also they must be clean before making gluten free products
- Sonic, Flow wrapper, Shrink wrapper must be cleaned after packing products containing allergens. Also they must be clean before packing Gluten Free products
EQUIPMENT CLEAN
- Thorough cleaning of all items used in the manufacture of recipes containing or decorated with nuts must occur before nut-free recipes/production are again used.
- All wire trays on cooling racks are washed after each use. Record on oven sheets that clean wires are used. All biscuits trays must be washed before a gluten free production
- Slice and slab trays for Rocky Road, White Christmas, French Almond Slice are washed after use.
- Before a Gluten Free production, all utensils, scales, biscuits trays, tubs (orange for gluten free), cooling racks, oven racks must be clean and free of any gluten residues.
- After a nut production, all utensils, scales, biscuits trays, tubs, cooling racks, oven racks must be clean and free of any nuts residues.
PACKAGING
- Thorough cleaning of all packaging equipment must occur before nut free products can be packaged.
- Thorough cleaning of all packaging equipment must occur before gluten free products can be packaged.
Good storage of allergen ingredients is essential to make sure cross contact and cross contamination does not occur.
Nuts Storage
Nuts upon receipt are stored in a separate LOCKED section of the warehouse and marked ‘ALLERGENS – NUTS’. Our warehouse personnel must sign each week that all boxes of nut product are stored in this location 71 Warehouse.
Once boxes of nuts have been opened for production they are to be taped up and stored in the LOCKED NUTS area located in the coolroom. This section is also marked and staff must check each day that nut products have been stored correctly, 120 Daily Clean
Only staff that have completed the Nuts training will be given the code to access the locked nut area.
Gluten Free ingredients storage
Products used exclusively for Gluten free production are stored in Warehouse Gluten Free section and Gluten Free container
To prevent cross contamination when storing gluten free ingredients, you must:
2. Keep specially stored ingredients away from our normal ones and marked as ‘gluten free only’
3. Once a raw ingredients has been opened for gluten free production they are taped up and placed in Gluten Free container to be stored in the Gluten Free area for later use
