Allergen Compliance: What You Need to Know

For bulk ingredient buyers and foodservice teams, allergen compliance starts long before an oil reaches your production environment. It starts with supplier documentation.

When you review an oil supplier, ask this question first: can they clearly explain what is in the product, how it is processed, and how they control allergen risk?

Start With Sourcing

At Catania Oils, that answer begins with our sourcing program. One of the key components of our allergen-control program is our supplier qualification process. Suppliers are reviewed and screened for their allergen programs, allergen controls, documentation practices, and cross-contact prevention measures. Supplier vetting and approvals are managed by our regulatory team, and are a critical first line of defense before ingredients even enter our manufacturing facility.

Know Your Allergens

The FDA identifies the major food allergens in the US as: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.

But the FDA’s current allergen guidance recognizes that refined, bleached, and deodorized oils do not contain proteinaceous material, so handling requirements are different from protein-containing allergenic ingredients. Refined oils aren’t considered allergenic and don’t require allergen labeling under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act. This governs our allergen statement, which is part of the specification sheet for each applicable ingredient, and is available for customer support, audits, specification reviews, questionnaires, and other documentation requests.

Know What’s Not Inside

For buyers, this distinction matters. A product name may reference soybean, peanut, or sesame, but allergen risk depends on the processing, the presence of protein, and the controls behind the product.

That’s why documentation should always come from the supplier.

Catania’s allergen statement also identifies what is not present: none of our oils contain eggs, milk, wheat, fish, or crustacean shellfish.

Check the Facility Controls

Strong allergen compliance isn’t just about the oil itself. It’s also about how a facility manages materials that the FDA considers major food allergens.

Catania Oils identifies three such products in our facility: macadamia nut oil, soy lecithin, and toasted sesame oil. Each follows defined controls.

• Macadamia nut oil arrives prepackaged in drums and does not run through production lines.
• Soy lecithin stays in a secured area away from production and uses disposable utensils into one-way bins only.
• Toasted sesame oil arrives prepackaged, does not run on production lines, and is never allowed for rework.

Look for Practical Safeguards

Catania also segregates and labels allergen-containing containers. Oils containing allergenic material are never used for rework, and flush oils containing allergens are disposed of as inedible oil.

Choose a Partner Who Makes It Simple

For Bulk and Foodservice buyers, this kind of supplier clarity supports audits, specifications, customer questionnaires, and day-to-day confidence. When you screen oil suppliers for allergen compliance, look for clear statements, practical controls, and a team that can answer the tough questions without making you chase paperwork.