Study Examines Food Allergen Advisory Labeling and Product Contamination with Egg, Milk, and Peanut
The federal Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) requires that labels on packaged foods disclose the presence of any of the eight major food allergens. But allergen advisory labels, which use wording like “may contain” or “made in a facility that processes,” are voluntary and are not standardized or regulated. Surveys suggest that food-allergic consumers appear to be increasingly ignoring these warnings, presumably out of frustration and doubt about whether the information can be trusted. In the August 2010 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, a team of researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine (New York, NY) and the University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NB) report on the results of their FAI-funded study, which investigated three important issues related to labeling and allergen contamination:
- The frequency and level of contamination of a large sample of products with advisory labeling for three major allergens (egg, milk, and peanut);
- The differences in the contamination risks between large and small manufacturers; and
- Tthe frequency and level of contamination of products that lack advisory labeling but are similar to ones bearing allergen warnings.
The researchers obtained a sample of non-perishable products with advisory labeling for the three allergens and similar products without advisory labeling from multiple supermarkets in New York and New Jersey. They chose from eight product categories (baking mixes, chocolate candies, non-chocolate candies, cookies, salty snacks, cold cereals, pastas and pancake mixes) and each product was tested for egg, milk and/or peanut allergens where there was a reasonable possibility of contamination. The authors found detectable residues of the three allergens in 5.3% of advisory labeled products and in 1.9% of similar products without advisory statements. Of note: one supermarket chain used the label “Good Manufacturing Practices were used to segregate ingredients in a facility that also processes peanut, tree nuts, milk, shellfish, fish, and soy ingredients,” which could be interpreted to mean that the product was safe from contamination; however, of 26 baking mixes tested with this label, milk contamination was detected in two and egg in one.
Small companies were found to have more contaminated foods, at 5.1% contamination, compared with 0.8% of products from large companies. Among products without advisory statements, no peanut was detected.
More research is needed to determine the risk associated with contamination, but the levels of egg and milk detected among products without advisory statements ranged from ones unlikely to trigger symptoms to ones that could trigger symptoms for very sensitive persons, particularly for milk. Overall, these findings represent a real risk for consumers. They highlight the need for allergic customers to avoid products with advisory labels and to have some concern for products that have no advisory labels, particularly from small companies within categories of higher risk products. These data also highlight the importance of increasing awareness among manufacturers, particularly smaller companies, of the need for appropriate labeling that accurately informs of risks and to take steps to further reduce contamination.