Allergen Policy

Mimea’s intention is to be aware of the major allergenic issues within the food industry. This awareness is via membership and investment in industry related groups, scientific bodies and other relevant sources. Where any risks have been identified in our process of storage and distribution, specific procedures and policies have been implemented. Meanwhile, allergen implications form part of our HACCP procedures and our risk analysis that are regularly conducted.

Products that contain or may contain allergens (as listed in: The General Food Labelling Directive 2000/13/EC and its amendments) are identified and segregated to minimise the risk of cross-contamination. All staff have been trained in allergen awareness, and the equipment is cleaned according to documented validated processes.

In meeting the requirements of Regulation No 1169/2011 Annex II, the following allergens have been risk assessed:

• Cereals containing gluten (i.e. wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, kamut or their hybridised strains) and product thereof
• Crustaceans and products thereof
• Egg and products thereof
• Fish and products thereof
• Peanuts and products thereof
• Soybeans and products thereof
• Milk and products thereof (including lactose)
• Nuts (i.e. almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans, Brazil nuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts and Queensland nuts) and products thereof
• Celery and products thereof
• Mustard and products thereof
• Sesame seeds and products thereof
• Sulphur dioxide & sulphites at concentrations of more than 10mg/kg, expressed as SO2
• Lupin and products thereof
• Molluscs and products thereof
• Oak moss (cosmetic allergen)

The following allergens in all their forms are handled from time to time by Mimea and approved suppliers to the business:

• Oats and oats straw green cut
• Soya flour toasted (Kinako powder)
• Almonds blanched whole, bitter whole and sweet ground, hazelnut leaves cut and blanched roasted whole, walnut leaves powder and cut walnut hulls whole and powder, walnut shells cut
• Celery leaves powder and rubbed, celery seeds whole and powder
• Mustard powder and seeds whole
• Sesame seed whole
• Sulphur Dioxide – existent in dried apricots, papaya sweetened and coconut desiccated medium as an additive. Angelica Chinese root sliced contain SO2 due to the drying process. Also naturally occurring in garlic but because it is not added as an additive the labelling is not required
• Oak moss (cosmetic allergen)

Product Specifications

Mimea product specifications make reference to the allergen status of each product and indicate if an allergen on the EU Allergen List is present in the product. Elimination of trace contamination cannot be guaranteed and suppliers are advised to carry out additional auditing and testing if appropriate.

Segregation

Mimea and approved suppliers to the business segregate the known allergens during processing and during storage but cannot guarantee that the products are transported separately.

Cleaning

Equipment that has been used to handle allergenic materials is cleaned following use. Cleaning is carried out in such a way that will reduce the likelihood of allergenic materials being present, however the total removal is not guaranteed.

Spillage

In the event of a spillage of a known allergen processing will be stopped immediately, the affected area will be isolated and a manager will be informed. The spillage will be contained and cleaning will take place. A product, which has been put at risk due to the spillage will be isolated and labelled. Investigations will take place and corrective actions will be taken to ensure there is not reoccurrence of the incident. Validation of allergenic spillages will be made through double signature, 2 people being required to visually inspect the cleaning.

Customer notification

Customers will be alerted immediately of an issue relating to the presence of allergens in products supplied by Mimea.

Transportation

Packaging of allergenic products will be sufficiently robust to reduce the risk of damages/ spillages but we cannot guarantee that no cross-contamination will occur during transportation. If any incidents occur during transportation which could result in allergen contamination, we advise to do not accept the delivery and validate the refusal through pictures. This way we will be able to investigate and reduce the likelihood of allergen contamination.