Nothing to sneeze at: the importance of allergen labelling

Imagine that 95% of foods in the snack section of the supermarket were off limits - for all intents and purposes to be considered poisonous. This isn’t some new fad diet designed to stop you stuffing your face with Doritos: this is what people with severe nut allergy - who are at high risk of anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction - live with every day.

Given that the smallest trace of an allergen can trigger anaphylaxis in those with severe allergies, allergic consumers rely heavily on allergen statements on packaged food to guide their purchases. But while two products might bear the same warning - “May contain traces of peanut”, for example - they could mean two completely different things. And for consumers with a severe food allergy, taking a risk with such products could prove to be fatal.

Maria Said, President of Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA), has had a keen interest in allergen labelling since 1993, when her son was diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy. While the food industry’s attitude to food allergy has changed significantly since then, Said says it still has a long way to go.

Small amounts, big reactions

While the tiniest amount of Salmonella, for instance, or Botulinum clostridium in a product is cause for mass recalls and full-blown damage limitation campaigns, the same is not the case for allergens. And yet, similarly small amounts of an allergen can cause illness or death - albeit for a smaller proportion of the population. But why are the two not given equal consideration?

“Sadly, I still hear pockets of people talking about food allergens not being part of food safety, because there’s nothing wrong with the food,” Said commented at a presentation at the 20th Australian HACCP Conference in Melbourne recently.

“Food allergy is very much a food safety issue, and it’s a challenge for all of us.”

Of VITAL importance

The VITAL (Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling) system, which A&AA worked with the Allergen Bureau to develop, is one way the food industry can assess allergen risk and label products accordingly. While Said thinks the VITAL system is a good thing, it hasn’t been widely taken up.

“And an allergic consumer doesn’t know by looking at a packet which food product is made using the VITAL process and which packet isn’t,” Said explained.

While the VITAL system specifies a particular precautionary allergen statement for manufacturers to use, Said says the statement is not patented and can be used by manufacturers who don’t use the VITAL system. “Anyone can put that statement on a packet,” Said told WNIFT&M. “We need criteria for the use of a precautionary statement.”

Similarly, products that claim to be free from a particular allergen are not bound by regulations. Said cited several examples of supposedly ‘free-from’ products which contained the very allergen they claimed to be free from, such as a product named No Nuts which carried the statement, “May contain traces of nuts”.

“How misleading is that?” Said asked. “It is not okay for food manufacturers to use ‘free from’ as a marketing tool to attract a vulnerable group and then have something on the back like ‘may contain traces of’.”

Think outside the box

So confusing are the allergen warning statements that those with severe allergies tend to do away with processed food altogether, Said says. However, the current generation of parents often grew up with packet sauces and mixes, so cooking from scratch isn’t something that most people know how to do. Most packet sauces and mixes carry precautionary statements, Said says, meaning they’re off limits for families of allergic children. Add to that the fact that many families comprise two working parents, and dietary restrictions due to allergy add further stress to already busy and stressful lives.

While some allergic consumers avoid packaged food, others, when they find a product that they know is safe, tend to stick to it. “There are people that become very brand loyal and stick to that food all the time,” Said explained. “And that’s something we certainly do tell allergic consumers - try to stick with the bigger brands.”

Unfortunately, allergic consumers tend to avoid products from smaller producers. “Small to medium businesses don’t tend to have as good an understanding of food allergy, and I think a lot of that is because they don’t have the resources to send their staff to things like this [the HACCP Conference].”

Imported products can also pose a risk, Said says, as allergen labelling can become lost in translation. “Whilst food that comes into Australia should be prepared in line with our Food Standards Code, it is not always, and there have been several food recalls due to imported foods.”

One in 10

No-one really knows why, but the number of allergic children is growing steadily. One in 10 babies born in Australia today will develop a food allergy.

“One big thing that you need to remember is that you’re not just dealing with that one individual with allergies,” Said pointed out. “It’s their family, and it’s their extended family, and it’s their school, and it’s their childcare facility, and it might be their workplace. So don’t think food allergy is only a minority.

“A food manufacturer did a survey several years ago and found that one allergic person affects the buying process of six other households.”

Communicate or perish

So, what can the food industry do to earn - and keep - consumers’ trust when it comes to allergen labelling?

“I think it’s about communication,” Said explained. “Communication through your packaging, communication by making sure that the people on your consumer helplines are giving consistent information.

“When something does go wrong, process it quickly, because that acknowledges that you accept that this is potentially life-threatening and could be a danger to others.

“When I hear of food reactions being investigated and it’s been two weeks and we still don’t have a result in the food testing, that shows that they’re not interested. If it was Salmonella and someone ended up in hospital, then they would have results pronto.

“At the end of the day, my son would probably cope better with a bit of Salmonella than he would with a bit of peanut.”

For more information on food allergy and anaphylaxis, visit www.allergyfacts.org.au. A copy of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) Allergen Management and Labelling Guide is available from the AFGC website: www.afgc.org.au.