Allergen control is the set of documented measures a food business uses to prevent unintended presence of allergenic substances in products that must not contain them, protecting consumers and meeting legal labelling obligations.
In trade practice
In mixed facilities handling nuts, gluten or sesame, teams use dedicated production lines or strict scheduling with validated cleaning between runs. Supplier declarations confirm incoming raw materials are free from undeclared allergens. Labelling is verified against Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 before release. GFSI audits such as BRCGS and IFS Food assess allergen control plans, cleaning validation records and staff training logs.
In a specification
A specification or supplier questionnaire should state which of the 14 regulated allergens are absent, require a signed allergen declaration per lot and reference the cleaning validation protocol used between allergen-containing and allergen-free runs.