Labelling
The Allergen Forum’s Labelling Working Group is developing a consistent allergen labelling process appropriate for all industry groups including retail, food service, catering, commercial and point of sale labelling.
The food industry is receiving criticism for the number of different ways in which it declares the presence of allergens, both mandatory and voluntary declarations.
Advisory allergen labelling currently used is not consistent across industry. Different companies use different risk thresholds to decide when to advisory label and when not to advisory label. The same advisory statement can mean something different from company to company, product to product and consumer to consumer. A standardised method of declaration will assist food businesses in presenting allergen information in a way that is more consistent and easily recognised and understood by those with food allergy.
Any labelling impacts due to the applications currently under consideration with FSANZ will need to be reflected in the development of a consistent allergen labelling process.
Download the labelling project brief PDF (file size: 132 KB)
The Allergen Labelling Working Group have established a preferred Allergen Declaration Format.
Download the summary recommendations PDF (file size: 40 KB)
The Scientific Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies of the European Food Safety Agency has recently released opinions on the likelihood of individuals suffering allergic reactions in relation to a number of processed foods. The Panel considered it “unlikely” that cereals, nuts or whey used in distilled spirits would lead to severe allergic responses. A similar conclusion was reached for vegetable oils-derived phytosterols and phytosterol esters from soybean and for natural tochopherols from soybean.
To comment or provide feedback on these recommendations, please email the Allergen Bureau: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it