In a laboratory or a plant where stuffed fresh pasta is produced, two types of products are stored.
- Products “containing common allergens” – i.e. substances or food containing allergens which can be found in any product that is processed in the production plant.
For instance, gluten and eggs that can be found in any egg pasta, no matter what kind of filling is used. Sometimes milk and milk derivatives can also be found, for they are included in any kind of filling (cheese, milk whey, powder milk and milk proteins); - Products “containing allergens for exclusive use” – a limited amount of substances containing one or more allergens that cannot be found in other products made in the same line or production plant. For instance, if we take the salmon-filled pasta, the fish allergen can be found only in the filling of this recipe.
The simultaneous presence of these two categories leads the producer to implement a set of procedures and activities aiming at preventing cross-contamination between these two categories, that is to say, for instance, the presence of salmon traces (“allergen for exclusive use”) in a product that should not contain any.
Useful advice before, during and after the production cycle
However, the presence of an allergen in foodstuffs is not only the consequence of an unintended contamination of the product during the production process, but it can also be due to an unintended contamination of raw materials
before they arrived in the plant.
to be continued
