http://www.news-medical.net/?id=17523
Plain language labels now required for eight top allergens
Miscellaneous News
Published: Thursday, 20-Apr-2006
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If you or someone in your family suffers from a food allergy, you know how difficult it can be to
decipher the food label if the product contains an offending substance.
Now, thanks to a food labeling law that went into effect this January, food manufacturers must
disclose in plain language whether products contain any of the top eight food allergens.
While more than 160 foods have been identified as sources of allergic reactions, 90 percent of the
allergic reactions associated with foods are caused by one of eight foods: milk, eggs, fish,
crustacean shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and soy.
Manufacturers have two options for declaring the presence of these food substances in foods. One
is to add a "contains" statement next to the ingredient list that identifies the types of
allergenic foods contained in the product; for example, "contains milk and wheat." The other
option is to place the food source in parentheses next to ingredients derived from one of the
eight potential offending foods classes, such as sodium caseinate (milk), albumin (egg).
The name of the allergen only needs to appear once in the ingredient statement. For example, if a
product contains both milk and a milk-derived ingredient such as whey, the manufacture is not
required to define whey as also being a milk product. In the case of nuts and seafood, the new law
requires that the specific type of nut (e.g., peanuts, almonds, cashews) or species of fish (e.g.,
cod, bass) or shellfish (shrimp, lobster) be specified. Also, the presence of such ingredients
must be listed even if they are contained only in colorings, flavoring agents or spice blends used
in the product.
While the law went into effect in January, it applies only to those foods labeled on or after Jan.
1, 2006. So, depending on a product's shelf life, it may take up to a year before all products on
your grocer's shelf will list allergenic ingredients in plain language. Until then, you will still
need to be on the outlook for scientific terms like "casein" for milk and "albumin" for egg.
The new labeling law applies to all foods regulated by the Food and Drug Administration except raw
agricultural commodities, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, and highly refined oils that have
been bleached and deodorized. What this means is that you may not be able to tell from the label
that "vegetable oil" really means "soybean oil." The protein level is so low in highly refined
oils that the FDA does not have good evidence for including them in the list of ingredients that
need allergen labeling.
The law applies to pre-packaged foods sold in retail and food-service establishments, but not to
products or meals ordered in restaurants or delis. It's up to the consumer to ask questions about
ingredients and preparation methods when eating at restaurants, delis or any place outside the
consumer's home.
Of note is that the new law does not specifically address gluten, only wheat. Gluten describes a
group of proteins found in certain grains such as wheat, barley and rye. It is of concern because
people with celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten. An estimated one in every 133 people in the
U.S. currently has celiac disease, and there is some concern that the numbers are rising. The new
law does requires the FDA to issue a proposed rule that would allow voluntary use of the term
"gluten free" by August 2006 and to have a final rule on "gluten free" in place by August 2008.
http://www.colostate.edu/
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