Food Without Warning Labels Still Contains Allergens
Precautinary labeling is a source of confusion for many. Some believe that if a product does not contain a “may contains” or other warning, that it is safe from cross-contamination. A new study shows that that is untrue. Almost 2% of the products without a warning label actually contained the allergen, and 5.3% of the advisory labeled products contained the allergen.
I guess the moral of the story is to heed the warnings because at least one in 20 of these products actually do contain the allergen but also to keep in mind that even if a product does not have a warning label, you still cannot be 100% sure that it is safe. Explains some of those “mystery reactions” we’ve all experienced.
TUESDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) — Some food products without “may contain” allergy advisory labels may still be contaminated with allergens, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology held March 13 to 17 in Washington, D.C.
Compared to similar products with no allergens declared, the researchers found that products with advisory labels were less likely to contain egg (1.8 percent versus 2.6), and more likely to contain milk (10.2 percent versus 3 percent) or peanut (4.5 percent versus 0 percent).
Also…
Meanwhile, a separate study at the University of Nebraska found that terms used to describe the possible presence of milk fat or protein (such as “may contain” or “produced in a facility that also processes milk products”) do not necessarily correlate with the likelihood of actual milk presence.The Nebraska study also found that milk was commonly present in products with a variety of labeling terms:
23 of 50 labeled as “may contain milk”
13 of 57 with “shared equipment” language
9 of 40 with “shared facility” language
16 of 29 with milk listed as a “minor” ingredient
1 of 3 with other labeling terminology
March 29, 2009 @ 12:13 pm
I suspect this is even more true with non-top-8 allergens. I have no allergy to wheat, but have had to change pasta and flour brands due to an itchy mouth (really annoying after cooking something from scratch). & if the manufacturer can’t tell me what else what might be in a product then it’s not safe for my food allergic child either. (With those wheat products, I suspect it is flaxseed contamination at the mill or at the equipment/facility level.) THANK YOU so much for this wonderful, educational (though sometimes depressing) and informative site!
March 30, 2009 @ 12:53 am
I have such a tough time convincing most people that labels don’t always indicate when trace amounts are possibly present, so thank you for this. People think I’m kinda crazy because they see so much labeling that indicates an allergen may be present, etc., they assume ALL manufacturers disclose possible cross-contamination. My son has had reactions when manufacturers did not disclose shared equipment. It was only after the reaction and my investigating the cause with the manufacturers of everything he ate that I determined the cause. In one case, the reaction was initially diagnosed as an asthma attack but later deemed to be an allergic reaction to trace amounts of tree nuts not disclosed on label.
March 30, 2009 @ 7:53 pm
I thought that all products were required to have allergen information on the package???
March 30, 2009 @ 9:11 pm
Answer to above question: Manufacturers are required to list the presence of the top 8 allergens (milk, peanut, tree nut, egg, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish) in the intended ingredients. They do not have to bold it or have a “contains” statement, so long as the allergen is listed in a common name (no scientific terms: ie casein for milk). That does not cover non-intentional inclusion such as cross-contamination from shared equipment at this point. Also, this law has only been in effect a couple of years, so its possible a product with a long shelf-life may not be up to the new standards of allergen listing. Best to call the manufacturer when in doubt. Consider their other products and if they might use the food you are avoiding. Hope this helps.