Harford Control – Why are Food Products with Mislabelled Allergens Still on the Shelf?

Visit Harford Control on Stand B46 at PPMA

Food recalls due to allergen mislabelling are still very common in the UK. Food Standard Agency data shows that 314 allergy alerts were issued in the reporting period for 2022/23.

The consequence of food recalls not only leads to tragic loss of life, but also causes serious damage to the brand’s financial health. Pret a Manger set aside £10m to cover legal costs after Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died from consuming mislabelled baguettes in 2016 and Celia Marsh suffered from a fatal reaction to a ‘vegan’ wrap in 2017.

Whilst efforts are made to ensure allergens are properly labelled, some food and drink manufacturers are not fully aware of the allergen labelling guidance. Some choose not to invest further and instead opt to ‘hope for the best’. Others have integrated ineffective solutions, such as print rooms.

Print rooms cannot be solely responsible for ensuring that products are accurately labelled (that the right label goes on the right product), as workers may overlook allergens or ingredients. Besides, the print rooms may not have access to all the necessary information.

How to Ensure Accurate Allergen Control?

From raw materials to finished products, it’s the manufacturers’ responsibility to ensure allergen control and provide clear and safe products to retailers and consumers. Allergen control must include, but is not restricted to:

• Supplier verification: Verify that suppliers provide accurate information about allergens present in their ingredients and adhere to appropriate safety standards.
• Allergen testing: Implement regular testing of both ingredients and finished products to verify the absence of allergens and detect any contamination. This can include laboratory testing as well as on-site testing methods such as swabbing for the presence of allergens.
• Accurate labelling: Review and improve their labelling and inspection procedures regarding allergen declarations to ensure clear and accurate labelling of all known allergen ingredients.

Harford Autocoding: 100% Verification of Packaging Accuracy

Harford Autocoding Solutions help manufacturers ensure 100% verification of packaging accuracy, to avoid inaccurate label information and unnecessary wastage. The solutions can be integrated into production lines to send real-time actionable data directly to those who need it. At the start of each production run, the system will ensure that label printers are set up accurately and in-line barcode scanners are configured to check that the correct packaging materials and labels are used – on each individual product, case or pallet. In some instances, on-line integrated cameras may also be required to ensure that the pre-printed packaging displays the correctly highlighted allergens.

Though this is a huge, essential step towards ensuring compliance, it must also be said that no automated system can ever guarantee total compliance, and full training and operator engagement are also essential to provide world class due diligence.

Harford have enormous experience in helping food and drink manufacturers ensure greater accuracy of labelling for control of allergens, date coding, quality and much more. If you are ready to eliminate risk and improve labelling accuracy using Harford Autocoding, please reach out to us at info@harfordcontrol.com or give us a call on +44 (0)1225 764461.

Visit Website: www.harfordcontrol.com

*Harford Control announced a solution range update earlier this year and we will showcase our latest end-to-end MIS/MES system on Stand B46 at PPMA.

View more Latest News from FDPP – Click Here