Allergen persistence and cross-contamination potential in water reuse within food industry processes

Food allergies are a critical public health challenge, and many food recalls are due to food allergen detections. Water intensive post-harvest activities are common in the food industry. Thus, the food industry has increasingly treated and reused water within its operations, but these practices are unstandardized and could cross contaminate food products with food allergens. We summarize the evidence on potential food allergens persistence in water reuse in this industry.