On Monday 15 January 2018, Georgina Christensen (Allergen Bureau VITAL Coordinator) had the opportunity to present to an audience of more than 40 Thailand-based food producers on a broad sweep of topics including food allergy, allergen management best practice and the complex issues of supply chain management and allergen cleaning validations. Georgina’s presentation was part of a food allergen management seminar held by Romer Labs in Bangkok, Thailand and followed similar seminars hosted by Romer Labs in New Zealand and Australia in late 2017.
In providing an initial outline of the Allergen Bureau VITAL® Program and a series of allergen management ‘watch outs’, Georgina laid the preliminary groundwork for the seminar. While food allergy is often perceived as a western disease, the incidence of food allergy in Asia and the awareness of its impact in the Asian manufacturing is increasing and the seminar provided a timely update on the tools available for management.
Georgina was joined by Robin Sherlock (Sherlock Food Allergen Risk Management and Allergen Bureau Technical Advisor – Analysis) discussing the impact on Asian markets of local regulatory expectations. Markus Kainz (Romer Labs Global Technical Support Manager) and Mabel Ng (Romer Labs Regional Technical Support Specialist) discussed analytical methods available and their role in allergen management.
The Allergen Bureau wish to thank Romer Labs for the opportunity to present at this food allergen seminar in Thailand. This collaboration helps to assist the Allergen Bureau to further our mission for a globally accepted, consistent, science-based approach to food allergen risk assessment, management and communication that: i) guides industry best practice; and ii) assists allergen sensitive consumers to make informed choices based on label information.
Click here for Georgina’s presentation
