Anaphylaxis Campaign scraps allergen standard
The Anaphylaxis Campaign’s allergen control standard has been axed less than two years after its launch after failing to achieve sufficient buy-in from the trade, Food Manufacture has learned.
The first third-party accreditation standard dedicated to allergen control, the Anaphylaxis standard was launched in November 2007, while dedicated training courses to help manufacturers adhere to it followed in spring 2008.
While the standard itself was well-respected and more comprehensive than the British Retail Consortium (BRC) global standard on allergen management, many manufacturers were reluctant to spend extra cash on training and accreditation, while the logo attached to the standard also proved controversial.
One industry source said: “The logo was never going to catch on. What if you have this logo on your products and you end up having to do a recall? I think a lot of people felt it was like tempting fate.”
Given that manufacturers were already subject to multiple audits, many also felt they could not justify signing up to another accreditation scheme, he added. Meanwhile, the newly beefed up allergen control section in version five of the BRC standard also went some way to addressing concerns about the lack of focus in allergens in earlier versions.
Simon Flanagan, who heads up allergens services at Reading Scientific Services (RSSL), said the Anaphylaxis Campaign’s allergen control standard was a very helpful document for food manufacturers, although he had had doubts about whether the certification scheme would gain critical mass: “The costs of certification were always going to be a challenge and the logo was problematic, but the standard itself was very useful.”
Despite its high reputation in the marketplace, the standard would not be maintained as a working document now that the accreditation route had been axed, said Anaphylaxis Campaign chief executive Lynne Regent. However, it had not been a waste of time, she insisted: “There is clear evidence that this programme has resulted in improved understanding of allergen management by food retailers and manufacturers. Furthermore, there have been indirect benefits in terms of a more general raised awareness that the standard has generated.”
She added: “It has already achieved an enormous amount of good. The problem was that take up was not as high as we would have hoped and although there was a lot of interest, we didn’t get the critical mass we needed to make it viable.”
In a statement, the Campaign added: “The board of trustees has carefully considered its priorities and, whilst acknowledging the significant achievements of this programme, has decided that it should concentrate on its core activities with regard to supporting people with severe allergies.”
