Inquest into allergy death points to labelling

Inadequate colour contrast of an ingredient list on a juice drink package may have played a part in the death of a seven-year-old boy in the UK last year. A coroner raised concerns after a seven-year-old boy who drank a pineapple and coconut juice drink died from a severe allergic reaction to milk.

The inquest heard how the boy's mother told police she had relied on the pictures on the packaging, which featured a pineapple and a coconut but made no reference to milk. However, the boy’s mother reportedly had years of experience avoiding milk and was extremely careful, as she also suffered severe allergies, as did another of her children. At seven, the boy was starting to check packets and read ingredients himself. He and his mum both examined the box before she bought the juice.

During the enquiry, it emerged that on some cartons of the juice, the milk ingredient had been partially obscured by a pineapple leaf; the Director of the juice manufacturer accepted that a small part of the word ‘skimmed milk’ had been hidden behind the image of a pineapple leaf in the company's old packaging. He said there was no obligation to follow FSA best practice guidelines which state allergen ingredients should not be on a colourful background or obscured by pictures, and maintained all of their packaging complied with current allergen labelling law.

Despite the coroner’s questions, the UK Food Standards Agency maintains an ingredients list was the clearest way to warn consumers of potential allergenic ingredients.