Ensuring food safety is a top priority for food processing facility employees, and managing allergens and pathogens is a critical factor as cross-contamination of products can make customers sick. It is important to train employees on appropriate standard operating procedures (SOPs) and maintain an understanding of best practices. Employee hygiene has a huge impact on food safety. Proper hygiene practices and equipment can help prevent the spread of harmful pathogens and allergens and ensure they do not pose a risk to your customers.
employee training Proper food safety procedures to manage allergens
It is important to thoroughly train your staff to identify a variety of allergens, including common allergens such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish, as well as less common allergens that may still pose a serious risk to some individuals.
Emphasizes the need to prevent cross-contamination by mandating strict protocols to identify potential sources of contamination and separate allergen-containing products from allergen-free products. Additionally, educating employees about the importance of personal hygiene can help prevent the spread of allergens. To maintain a high level of food safety, you must ensure that your employees receive regular refresher courses that update them on the latest food safety guidelines and practices.
Explore our free food safety training toolbox for food processing
Invest in a strong food safety culture to prevent allergen cross-contamination.
A food safety culture can help prevent allergens by encouraging consistent practices such as proper labeling, storing allergen-containing ingredients separately, thorough cleaning of equipment between allergens and non-allergens, training staff to identify and manage allergens, and proactively communicating with customers about potential allergens in dishes to ensure everyone is aware of the risks and takes the necessary precautions to prevent cross-contamination.
By creating a healthy food safety culture, all employees will participate and take responsibility for ensuring food safety, and as a result, employees will perceive their work as meaningful rather than simply following established procedures.
Check out more blogs about food safety culture
Review standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Employees and visitors must thoroughly understand the facility’s SOPs before entering production areas where food contact may occur. It is important to review these SOPs regularly and keep them up to date. If your facility currently has SOPs for an allergen control program and there are changes to the facility (e.g. expansion, new product lines, or new equipment), you must update the SOPs to ensure they continue to provide the same level of safety and protection as before. SOPs should be reviewed whenever there are major or minor changes that may affect how products containing allergens are handled.
Use appropriate equipment to prevent cross-contact and contamination.
Training your staff is very important, but having the right equipment is essential for effective allergen control. Sanitary equipment can provide employees with increased confidence that they are effectively removing allergens before handling other products. Meritech’s CleanTech® Automatic Hand Wash Station is clinically proven to consistently remove common food allergens from employees’ hands in a 12-second wash cycle. This allows employees to switch between products without the risk of allergen cross-contamination.
Cleantech Download® Compare this to a typical allergen packet!
