The Allergen Bureau is delighted to announce that Talley’s Ice Cream was selected as the winner of the 2018 NZIFST Allergen Bureau Award for best practice food allergen management.
The award was presented to Mike and Donna Elston from Talley’s Ice Cream at the NZIFST Conference 2018, Hamilton NZ.
In presenting the award, selection committee Chair Debbie Hawkes stated that “the Talley’s Ice Cream nomination stood out by having a number of very clear allergen management procedures, particularly: an excellent staff training questionnaire; special attention to the process point at which allergen containing ingredients are added; good specific instructions on rework and part container labels for allergen containing materials; and excellent instructions on cleaning protocols validated by swabbing and rinse water sampling which even included visual images of well labelled sample containers.”
Award nominations were evaluated by the selection committee based on their contribution to a consistent, science based approach to food allergen risk assessment, management and communication that guides industry best practice and assists allergen sensitive consumers to make informed choices based on label information.
“Winning this award gives us the reassurance that Talley’s Ice Cream allergen management is robust. We take our allergen management extremely seriously, we want to ensure all allergen sensitive customers can clearly identify our ingredients and any allergens that may be incorporated in our product. Our goal is to have a system that serves to identify, control, educate and communicate the risk and presence of food allergens within our ice cream.” says Donna.
In winning the award, Talley’s Ice Cream receive a complimentary registration to attend the 3rd Food Allergen Management Symposium 2019 (FAMS2019) Melbourne, including a return economy airfare and three nights’ accommodation in Melbourne.
Mike notes, “This award is another reassurance to our super sensitive Japanese customers that we take our allergen management seriously and our allergen management controls are effective. The award prize of travel and attendance at FAMS2019 in Melbourne is a fantastic opportunity, one we are really looking forward too.”
The Allergen Bureau wish to recognise all the award applicants and acknowledge the effort that was required to submit your nominations.
We thank our award selection committee of Debbie Hawkes, Allergen Bureau and Hawkins Watts (Chair); Penny Jorgensen, Allergy New Zealand; and Cathy McArdle, Zubi.
