A list of foods, ingredients and raw materials that may unexpectedly contain allergens, with questions to ask suppliers to support your allergen risk review, and a section on allergens associated with food fraud.
Published: December 2024 (revised and updated)
Format: PDF
Cost: Free to download
About this guide
Allergens are not always easy to spot. They can sit in additives, processing aids and compound ingredients, behind technical ingredient names, or enter a product through cross contact. This guide gives the food industry a list of foods, ingredients and raw materials that may unexpectedly contain allergens, and the questions food business operators can ask their suppliers to support the allergen risk review process.
This edition is a revised and updated version of the 2011 guide. It has an expanded and updated list of foods, and adds information on food fraud where allergens have been associated. For guidance on agricultural cross contact, it points to Assessing Agricultural Cross Contact.
Who it’s for
- Growers and primary producers
- Food ingredient manufacturers, importers and suppliers, both local and imported
- Food business operators of packaged food for bulk sale, including business to business
- Food business operators of packaged retail ready foods
- Food business operators in food service and hospitality
- Importers of packaged foods
Where allergens can be unexpected
- Technical names: an ingredient may not sound like an allergen. Hydrolysed vegetable protein (HVP), for example, can be a product of soy.
- Additives and processing aids: lecithin (322) can be a product of soy, and the processing aid lactoperoxidase is a milk derived protein.
- Manufacturing processes: allergens can be used as free flowing agents, lubricants or clarifying agents, or as feedstocks and substrates for growing bacteria, yeasts and enzymes.
- Cross contact: through agricultural co-mingling, carry over from an ingredient that contains cross contact, shared equipment or concurrent lines, or inadequate cleaning.
What’s inside
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 1. Introduction | About the guide and its scope: how allergens can be present in foods, why identifying them matters, and who the guide is for. |
| 2. Unexpected allergens in food | Table 1 lists foods, food additives and ingredients that may unexpectedly contain allergens, with the questions to ask suppliers about each, for example what a material is derived from. |
| 3. Food fraud | Table 2 gives examples of allergens associated with food fraud. |
| 4. Endnotes | References. |