Food Allergens: A Review on Recent Initiatives for Allergen Risk Assessment
January 19, 2024
About the Webinar
Food allergies remain a critical public health issue, and their prevention relies on robust allergen control programs in the food industry and community education. As food safety programs focus on preventing cross-contact of finished products to protect consumers, risk assessment becomes a crucial tool to assess and prevent or mitigate allergen cross-contact. Recently the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) assembled a group of experts to evaluate the state of science for risk assessment of food allergens, which resulted in four reports that address priority food allergens, allergen thresholds, precautionary labelling, and allergen exemption considerations. The recommendations of the FAO/WHO expert committee are currently under review by the Codex Committee on Food Labeling (CCFL).
In this webinar, Dr. Joseph Baumert of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln provided a review of these documents and practical applications for food manufacturers.
What was covered:
- An overview of the 4-part series of the FAO/WHO expert consultation
- Key takeaways for food manufacturers reflected in these documents
- Emerging discussions/approaches for risk-based decisions on allergen management and labeling
About the Speaker
Dr. Joseph Baumert – Professor – Department of Food Science and Technology, Director – Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Joe Baumert, Ph.D., currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Food Science & Technology and Director of the Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP) at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Baumert has maintained active national and international research and extension/outreach programs during his 14+ years as a faculty member. His research has primarily focused on the development and improvement of analytical methods for detection of allergenic food proteins and the development of quantitative risk assessment models for food allergens. Dr. Baumert’s outreach activities include training for the food industry on allergen control solutions aimed to mitigate the risk of allergen cross-contact and quantitative risk assessment consultation.
Category: Webinars, Food & Beverage, Laboratory, Pathogens, Environmental Monitoring