Packaged foods potentially dangerous for allergy sufferers

Even after steering clear of trigger foods and reading labels carefully, allergy sufferers in Australia may still be at risk of an anaphylaxis attack when consuming some pre-packaged foods.

A study from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) revealed that 14 people suffered severe allergic reactions to packaged foods over a period of just three months. None of the products listed the suspected allergen as an ingredient and, surprisingly, 50% also failed to have a precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) statement.

This suggests that food labelling is not a sufficient safety precaution for allergy sufferers since they fail to highlight all the potential risks of packaged foods.

“Our study showed that anaphylaxis to undeclared allergens is not rare and it did not appear to depend on whether the product was labelled with precautionary advice,” explained senior author Professor Katie Allen.

According to Dr Giovanni Zurzolo, lead author and Postdoctoral Fellow from MCRI and Victoria University, this could be because PAL practices are currently voluntary. As a result, advisory warnings are only on some packaged foods.

“Therefore, there is no effective way to currently determine whether or not an unlabelled product (foods without PAL) is safe for consumption by the food allergic community.”

While statements such as “may contain traces” are the food industry’s attempt to help consumers navigate their way through the supermarket shelves and steer clear of potentially dangerous products, PAL may be a more effective method.

However, since neither are legally enforced, they both fail to help eliminate the risk of anaphylaxis. Allen argues stricter regulations would address this issue.

“Current PAL practices do not assist consumers in selecting foods which are safe for consumption. Improvements in the regulation of food labelling are required to give consumers the right information to help them to make safe choices,” she said. “Everyone deserves the right to eat food safely.”

Fifteen-year-old Emilia’s story demonstrates the risks of poorly labelled packaged foods. She has suffered several anaphylactic attacks through her life and has discovered she is allergic to wheat, eggs and peanut. This has led to her carefully monitoring her food and carrying an Epipen at all times.

Despite these precautions, she had an allergic reaction to a packet of rice biscuits 18 months ago, which was a food that she and her parents had deemed safe.

“There were no ingredients listed on the label that Emi is allergic to, so we were very surprised that she had a reaction. It is concerning that even if you read the label carefully and try to do everything right that your child could still be at risk,” said her mother, Helen Czech.

The study was published in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/glisic_albina