9 replies to this topic

[kconf]

Hi Experts,

 

I had a potential customer inquiring about allergens and sensitivity in our products. One of the items is corn or its derivatives (sugars, starch, etc.) in their list. I know our sugar has <5 % corn starch in it. Now this customer doesn't want to move forward with us.

 

Is corn starch in such low concentration a big deal? This customer claims to be allergen free, including corn-free. Is it a major allergen? Are there any thresholds? 

 

Thanks in advance for your advice. 

[Brothbro]

Corn is not a major allergen in the US, so it is not required to be controlled as an allergen in FDA-regulated facilities. However, businesses can still market themselves as "corn-free" so they're free to develop a process that regulates this material. The thresholds for detection are likely in the allergen-control levels (low tolerance) but I'd recommend you ask them precisely what their requirements for "corn-free" are since you're working with corn derivatives. 

[Tony-C]

Hi kconf,

 

Corn isn’t regarded as an allergen for labelling purposes in the EU either: European Union must label 14 allergens under EU law. These include cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs, nuts, peanuts, soybeans, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, celery, lupin, sesame, mustard and sulphites.

 

I can’t remember having heard of an issue with an allergic reaction to corn but it clearly is a problem for a small minority of the population: Corn Allergies: What You Should Know

 

I guess your customer is wanting to sell corn-free food, there must be a market for it.

 

Kind regards,

 

Tony

[jfrey123]

At best, it's a contractual obligation thing to their customers: they or their customers might spec their finished good as "pure sugar" instead of all the HFCS type commodities on the market.  Knowing there is corn in what they want to be pure cane sugar is probably a red flag on someone's RA.

 

At worst.......  Dunno, I'd kick a supplier all the way off my register if I was spec'ing pure sugar and found out it's cut with anything.

[kconf]

Great inputs, everyone. Thanks! 

[SQFconsultant]

The issue may not be the corn level but the customer may have issue with the level or type of pesticide in the corn as this is becoming a sensitivity issue. Just a thought. 

[G M]

I'd guess they're also aiming for Non-GMO, grain free, or something like that if corn is a problem.

[kconf]

It does not fall into "GMO" category nor are they concerned about the pesticides. It is the actual protein in corn that can cause allergic reaction in a small number of population. 

[G M]

It does not fall into "GMO" category nor are they concerned about the pesticides. It is the actual protein in corn that can cause allergic reaction in a small number of population. 

 

Yes, polypeptides are primarily responsible for allergic reactions, the point was that allergy to maize is significantly less common than other crops and some other kind of labeling motive seemed probable.

 

I don't believe I've seen an acceptable threshold listed for maize allergen by any regulator, and most don't have established thresholds even for the more common allergies because peoples level of sensitivity is highly variable.  One allergic person might tolerate 40ppm, while the next could go into anaphylactic shock and die at 5ppm.  Many regulators have simply fallen back on "labeling must be true" and if you test your product or otherwise know it contains even a ppb trace of the allergen, it has to be listed if its one of the top X allergens that regulator recognizes as significant.

[kconf]

You are 100% correct. The customer would not accept it even in trace amount, so no point testing concentration.