Calauan, Laguna — Aiming to continue its programs and services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Negosyo Center Calauan of the Department of trade and Industry – Laguna Provincial Office (DTI-Laguna) conducted a webinar on Food Allergen Management for the food industry via an online platform held last August 14.
A total of 46 existing and potential micro, small, and medium enterprises attended the webinar which also aimed to educate the people on different kind of allergens especially those who are under the food sectors such as manufacturers, catering services and restaurants. Ms. Elaine Grace Gatdula, RND, served as the Resource Person for the event. During the webinar, she discussed four topics about food allergen such as Statistics on Food Allergen, Allergen Awareness, Allergen Management and Product Labelling Regulations.
She first introduced the topic by discussing some background on what the food allergen is and then she asked relevant questions to her topic to make the participants more active. On the statistics of food allergen, she discussed that there are eight classifications of food which primarily cause the food allergen for the Americans: shellfish, milk, peanut, treenut, egg, fish, wheat and sesame.
As the program continued, she then discussed the different symptoms, diagnosis and treatment for food allergy and the importance of food allergy to the food industry. She said that the food sectors have the responsibility to know if the customer has an allergen on specific ingredients on their menu.
Moreover, she then discussed the practices involved in the food sector for them to determine the allergen of the food they serve. This includes an allergen control plan and research and development, both of which are applicable not only to big businesses but also for the small ones. Another thing that she emphasized during the discussion was product packaging and labeling for the food manufacturers.
The Negosyo Center Business Counsellor ended the webinar by inviting the participants to also attend other series of webinars organized and facilitated by DTI-Laguna. Upcoming webinars for the month of August are as follows: SMERA Webinar on Photography Essentials on your Online Business (August 18, 2PM), SMERA WEBINAR on Introduction to SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (August 19, 2PM), SMERA Webinar on Financial Literacy and Mindset (August 20, 10AM), Webinar on E-commerce: “Coping with the New Normal of Doing Business thru Technology” (August 20, 2PM), and SMERA Webinar on Digital Marketing (August 25, 9AM). Invitation links to these webinars are posted in DTI-Laguna official Facebook account at facebook.com/DTI.LagunaProvince/.♦
Date of Release: 24 August 2020