The Allergen Bureau’s VITAL® (Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling) Program is a standardised allergen risk assessment process for the food industry. The system is used by HACCP Australia consultants to assist our clients meet the requirements of compliant allergen labelling. Carrying out a VITAL risk assessment using the VITAL tools – including VITAL Online – assists a food company to thoroughly review the allergen status of all the ingredients and the processing conditions that contribute towards the allergen status of the finished product. The VITAL Program produces a ‘labelling outcome’ that summarises the food allergens present in a food due to Read more...

By Karen Constable and Juliana Elliott – HACCP International Hand hygiene is an area which has received a lot of attention lately, both in the health care industry and in the food industry.  As a result, there’s plenty of new research and new technologies around the topic of hand hygiene.  Here, we take a look at some old ideas and some new ideas. Old idea:  Washing hands is all about killing bacteria. New idea:  Removing viruses from hands – particularly noroviruses – is an equally important, if not more important, reason to strive for clean hands. In recent years, norovirus Read more...

PLUG IN Pest Free have been the leader in electromagnetic pest control technology for years. Launching in 1995 from its headquarters in Australia, PLUG IN Pest Free quickly gained recognition as a household name in the domestic market as it expanded globally. In 1996 the Pest Free Commercial Pest Management System (certified by HACCP International for the Australasia and Asia licence regions) was launched and caught the attention of various industries who strive for a more safe, convenient, humane, and proven way to control and combat rodent infestations. Industries include hospitality, food processing and restaurants, hospitals and aged care, Read more...

Sanitising food contact surfaces is an essential operation in food production where the control of microorganisms in the finished product is considered important. Sanitising involves the destruction of living micro-organisms on a surface through the use of an agent, typically heat, chemicals or a combination of both. Sanitising is often mentioned at the same time as cleaning, ie Cleaning and Sanitising. But the first pitfall is understanding that sanitising cannot be effectively achieved without the first step of ‘cleaning’. Cleaning is the removal of food residues and biofilms from a surface. These coatings, often referred to as ‘soil’ present two Read more...

Plain English Allergen Labelling (PEAL) transition period comes to an end on 24th February 2024. Businesses have had 3 years from 25 February 2021 to implement the new PEAL requirements. A 2-year stock-in-trade period (25 February 2024 to 24 February 2026) will commence. Any food packaged and labelled with existing allergen declarations before 24th February 2024 may be sold for up to 2 years after the end of the transition period. All stock in trade from 25 February 2026 must be fully compliant to the new labelling requirements. What must be declared​ The food and ingredients listed below will need Read more...