Review of the 2008 Allergen Bureau Conferences

As promised in the last issue of the Allergen Bureau eNews, the following is a review of some additional highlights from the 2008 Allergen Bureau conferences that were held in February 2008, in Brisbane and Sydney.

The requirements for allergen free labelling were outlined by Nigel Ridgway from the ACCC, based on the Trade Practices Act. This legislation prohibits the use of labelling claims that mislead, deceive, or are likely to mislead or deceive consumers. This includes all references to allergenic substances on food labels and marketing materials. A claim that a product is free from a substance is likely to be deemed to be misleading if that substance was found to be present in the product. Similarly, if an allergenic substance requiring labelling is present in a food yet not mentioned on the label, this is also likely to be deemed to be misleading.

In interpreting the law, the court would assess the general impression created in the average audience, with consideration to the entitlement of the consumer to product safety. Therefore, a consumer would not need to have suffered a reaction, or even be susceptible to a reaction for an inaccurate label claim to breach this requirement. Indeed, most cases of false and misleading allergen labelling that are investigated by the ACCC are highlighted through routine testing and surveillance by food authorities or competitor companies.

The presentation provided an indication of some precautions that could be implemented to avoid liability with regard to the Trade Practices Act. These include risk management plans, quality control in design, production and import of food products, record keeping, complaint handling, recall procedures, plus access to adequate scientific and technical knowledge.

Potential exemptions from allergen labelling in Australia and New Zealand were discussed by Simon Brooke Taylor, on behalf of the Allergen Bureau, based on a project recently undertaken for the AFGC. Current allergen labelling regulations in this region do not allow exemptions other than for cereals as an ingredient of beer and spirits. However, the European Food Safety Agency has now collated dossiers on a number of processed ingredients for which the reported risk of allergic reaction is low. Over the coming years, some EU dossiers may be made available for assessment by regulatory agencies in other countries, including Australia and New Zealand. In this region, the substances most likely to be assessed for potential allergen labelling exemption include glucose syrups and maltodextrins from wheat, highly refined oils, phytosterols and tocopherols from soy and isinglass from fish.

Simon's presentation is available from the Allergen Bureau website: www.allergenbureau.net/resources/general/2008-conference-presentations/

A clinical perspective of lupin as an emerging allergen was provided by Dr Rob Loblay from the University of Sydney. Lupin is a recently-recognized legume allergen with some epitopes that cross-react with peanut. Three Australian case reports of lupin anaphylaxis in 2004 indicated a need to document the prevalence of lupin sensitization in a high-risk population. Sensitization to lupin is relatively common in patients sensitized to peanuts, and prevalence increases with age. Sensitization to lupin without peanut, and to peanut without lupin, suggests binding of IgE to non-shared epitopes in those individuals. The low ratio of lupin plus peanut sensitization in infants compared to the high ratio of this combination in the older age group suggests that the pattern of epitope binding may change with age.

Samara Kitchener from the New South Wales Food Authority spoke about a State-based pilot project to raise awareness of food business obligations with regard to food allergies. The pilot is being conducted in partnership with local councils and food businesses in Canada Bay and Orange, with 20-30 businesses participating in each area. An allergen aware logo is awarded to businesses that have participated in training, to demonstrate their understanding of the issues and agreement to comply with the scheme's requirements. Baseline data from the initial review of the pilot indicates businesses are most aware of allergy and intolerance to peanuts and gluten, with moderate knowledge of dairy, eggs and seafood. There appears to be some confusion about allergens within catering and food service sector.