Approach to Allergens and Food Safety (MAPAQ)

Daniel Tremblay

Centre québécois d'inspection des aliments et de santé animale (CQIASA) - Ministère de l'Agriculture des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) - 200 Sainte-Foy Road, Quebec City, - Quebec G1R 4X6 (Canada).

The Centre québécois d'inspection des aliments et de santé animale (CQIASA) endeavours to limit allergic consumers' risk of exposure to the priority allergens in Canada. Within a food safety framework, its specific approach to allergens targets a wide range of stakeholders: the health and education sectors, food companies and consumers. The primary concern of the CQIASA is allergic consumers, and in the course of its work it identifies numerous cases of non-compliant labelling and receives many complaints of allergic reactions.

This presentation will discuss the food allergy information booklet, which all stakeholders find valuable for understanding allergic reactions and how to prevent them. Ingredient monitoring remains the cornerstone for the support the CQIASA provides to allergic individuals and their families in making their food choices. Companies that do not label their ingredients properly expose themselves to food recalls for one or another of the priority food allergens. At the CQIASA, food analysis is used primarily to link a food with an allergic reaction when complaints are received. Food analysis for allergen detection must be reliable and available at all times even though it is relatively expensive. Nevertheless, it must not be the only focus of our activity.