Food Allergens are an ever-important area of food safety and continue to generate interest from a broad range of stakeholders.

UK consultants Allergy Action have developed an allergy awareness training tool for food handlers, in DVD format. The training package, which includes an assessment, is aimed at anybody preparing, selling or serving food to others.

The US FDA/CFSAN have issued the 4th edition of their Guidance for Industry: Questions and Answers regarding Food Allergens, including the Food Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004. This document may provide some useful background to those interested in the USA allergen labelling laws.

There is still a lot of controversy regarding the suitability of oats in the diet of coeliacs - is it that they are nearly always contaminated with wheat and other gluten-containing cereals, or are many coeliacs also intolerant to the oat avenin protein?  Find out the current opinion of the Australian Coeliac Society in this article from a recent issue of their magazine (posted with permission).