FACTa's Technical Director, Robin Sherlock, is a Member of the Allergen Bureau's Management Committee and has been a guest speaker at the Allergen Bureau’s Conferences in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide in 2008.

Robin Sherlock will be speaking on the topic of  ‘The Application of Analytical Tools to Manage Risk’ at the Allergen Bureau's Conference in Auckland Tuesday 14 October 2008.

FACTa (Food Allergens Control Training and Analysis) is a specialised national food allergen testing laboratory as well as providing food allergen related education and training services on food-borne allergens and audit services for the control of food-borne food allergen transfer and contamination in food manufacturing and service facilities.

FACTa maintains a resource database which correlates and distributes international information related to food allergen issues through e-newsletters. Food manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand have access to FACTa's food allergen database through the Allergen Bureau.

"From a scientific perspective we bring a very different viewpoint than the traditional industry viewpoint," Robin Sherlock says. "As FACTa's Technical Director I am directly responsible for the quality of all food allergen analysis and determining the appropriate methodologies and looking at new technologies as they become available.

“I am also responsible for application of those results in the food manufacturing industry - for example, explaining to clients what a positive or negative result means and what the implications of those results are in terms of food allergen management."

The relationship between FACTa and the Allergen Bureau began in 2004 when the Australian food manufacturing industry first addressed core issues related to food allergens. Robin was a very strong advocate for the centralisation of information.

"We (the Allergen Bureau) knew we had to develop a focal point for sharing information without company boundaries. So when the Allergen Bureau was established FACTa became a Member as soon as we could because we knew it was pivotal in terms of allergen management," Robin said. "I subsequently became a Member of the Allergen Bureau Management Committee.

“I have been amazed by how much background work is done in terms of ensuring that stakeholders are represented appropriately, and making sure that scientific rigour is behind all actions and decisions made by the Allergen Bureau, especially concerning the VITAL (Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling) system."

"The launches of the VITAL tool and PIF (Product Information Form) have also meant an exponential increase in terms of background work. It's challenging but it's also a very interesting and exciting way to be involved with the food manufacturing industries in Australia and New Zealand, and to see the Allergen Bureau working so successfully with the food industry is very satisfying."