Allergen Management Program & Matrix
Systematic approach to allergen control and labeling strategies.
Last Updated
23-12-2025
Level
All Levels
Available Language(s)
English
What you'll learn
- Develop an allergen management program and matrix.
- Implement cross-contact controls and clean-changeover procedures.
- Validate labeling and consumer communications.
Requirements
None required; suitable for QA, operations, and compliance teams.
Description
Explore allergen risk management, cross-contact controls, labeling claims, and communication strategies to protect consumers and avoid recalls.
It is a structured approach to identify and control allergen risks across the product lifecycle, including an allergen matrix, cross contact controls, labeling strategies, and supplier management.
An allergen matrix maps ingredients to potential allergens and products to identify where risks exist, enabling targeted controls and consistent labeling across the portfolio.
Regulatory requirements vary by region. The program teaches how to identify regional allergen lists and map them to product designs, labeling, and supplier management for compliance.
Identify critical process steps, assign owners, implement dedicated equipment or cleaning, establish changeover procedures, use color coding, and validate the controls.
Use validated cleaning procedures with defined acceptance criteria, perform swab or rinse testing at critical points, and revalidate after changes to processes or products.
Ensure label content reflects accurate ingredient declarations, define clear statements such as contains or may contain, and implement an internal label review process.
To identify allergen risks, assign owners and monitoring, and drive consistent labeling, communication, and control across all products.
At least annually and whenever there are changes to ingredients, suppliers, equipment, or processes, with updates incorporated into the management review.
Use dedicated equipment when feasible, implement rigorous changeover and cleaning procedures, verify with checks or testing, and schedule changes to minimize risk.
Common issues include mislabeling and cross contact. Prevention relies on robust labeling checks, supplier controls, allergen specific cleaning, and regular audits.
Provide role based training, practical scenarios, refreshers, and certifications, with training records maintained for compliance.
Require supplier COAs with allergen information, conduct supplier audits, maintain an approved supplier list, and manage changes to ingredients or packaging promptly.
An allergen matrix, standard operating procedures for cleaning and changeovers, label review procedures, supplier COAs, test results, and CAPA records.
Verify ingredient lists and allergen statements on labels, confirm cross contact controls, obtain supplier attestations, and perform internal label reviews.
Validation proves that a control works under design conditions, while verification confirms ongoing performance through monitoring, testing, and documentation.
Identify ingredients and processing steps with allergen risk, evaluate cross contact points, assess likelihood and severity, and determine appropriate controls.
Provide timely, accurate information to consumers, coordinate with internal teams and public communications, and document corrective actions and CAPA results.
Allergen controls are incorporated into the HACCP framework, mapped to CCPs or prerequisite programs, and aligned with labeling and supplier management within the HACCP plan.
Label accuracy, number of allergen related deviations, supplier non conformances, time to close CAPA, and number of successful recalls avoided.
Assess understanding of the Allergen Management Program and the Allergen Matrix. This quiz covers key concepts such as allergen definitions, cross-contact prevention, matrix mapping of ingredients to allergens, supplier declarations, cleaning and sanitation, labeling, change management, and recall readiness. Answer all questions to demonstrate your ability to apply the allergen management controls in a HACCP-based food safety program. A score of 80% or higher is required to pass.
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This Course Include
1 hours
1 quizzes
30 lessons
Full lifetime access
