Worldwide, the food industry needs to advance understanding and knowledge sharing in allergen management, especially peanut allergen detection. This is the view of Guangtao Zhang, Ph.D., Director of the Mars Global Food Safety Centre (GFSC) presented in an insightful Q&A article on the Food Safety Tech Website.
Like the members of the Allergen Bureau, Mars takes a precompetitive approach to food allergen research, knowledge sharing and collaboration. This sees them openly sharing insights and expertise to help ensure safe food for all – an important step in driving forward innovations and helping to unlock solutions that may not have previously been possible.
Allergen detection methods underpin regulatory aspects and are vital to both supply chain and the successful validation and monitoring of the effectiveness of cleaning and handling practices. This is why Mars is currently working to develop advanced analytical methods to detect peanut allergen content. Their efforts aim to enable the food industry to expand on current preventative management protocols for faster response to future situations where food allergens are accidentally present.
Their research contributes to a wider Food Safety Best Practice whitepaper focused on food allergen risk management currently under draft by the Mars GFSC, which will be published in collaboration with Walmart Food Safety Collaboration Centre and the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology (CIFST) later this year.
To learn more about the Mars GFSC approach to allergen management, check out the full Q&A article published on the Food Safety Tech Website.
