Free allergen info for small businesses

The Australian government's National Measurement Institute held three free evening information sessions in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth aimed at raising awareness among small and medium food manufacturers of the issues and requirements involved in developing and labelling products for food allergic consumers.

The evening sessions were well received, and delivered information ranging from the perspectives of immunologists and allergists who diagnose and treat food allergic individuals, a description of the tools and resources provided by the Allergen Bureau and AFGC for managing food allergens throughout the food supply chain, through to a 'virtual' ELISA demonstration showing the steps involved with testing food products for allergens using the most common detection method.

A show of hands indicated that not all those attending the sessions were familiar with the resources available to the food industry, with VITAL and PIF being new to many of those present. The Allergen Bureau's support for and involvement in these sessions was part of a strategy to disseminate information about these resources to small and medium sized food businesses.

The National Measurement Institute also hosted two-day workshops in Sydney and Melbourne which provided greater detail on allergen testing methods and aimed to improve the quality and standardisation of allergen detection across industry, government and commercial laboratories.

The presentations from both the information sessions and the workshops are now available online: www.foodallergendetectionworkshops.com.au