Review of Japanese allergen labelling regulations

Since early 2002, Japan has had in place regulations for labelling the presence of certain allergens in foods. While some of these requirements are mandatory, others are recommended, or voluntary. A recent review looks at the selection of specific allergens to be labelled, the implementation of regulatory action levels and the detection methods to support them, and the assessment of the effectiveness of the Japanese approach.

Among the many substances that can cause allergic reactions, some are more severe and common than others. Food makers must clearly label wheat, buckwheat, egg, milk and peanuts in processed foods. Labelling of shrimp/prawn and crab has also become mandatory since 2008.These mandatory requirements are enforced by ministerial ordinance. Food makers are recommended to note on the package that they use another 20 common allergens. Soy, pork, walnuts and mushroom are among those foods included on the list.

Shortly after the introduction of the labelling requirements, enforcement was supported through the Japanese government's nomination of official methods for detection of allergens. These official methods include two kinds of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits for screening, Western blotting analyses for egg and milk, and polymerase chain reaction analyses for wheat, buckwheat, peanut, shrimp/prawn and crab.

To standardize the official methods, the Japanese government described the validation protocol criteria in the 2006 official guidelines. The guidelines stipulate that any food containing allergen proteins at greater than 10mg/kg must be labelled under the Law.

Reference: Akiyama et al. 2011Advances in Food and Nutrition Research. Vol. 62. pp. 139-71.