Precautionary allergen labeling: Current communication problems and potential for future improvements

While there are EU laws for priority allergenic ingredients information on food product packaging, there is no legislation about Precautionary Allergen Labelling (PAL) for unintended allergen presence (UAP). As a result, PAL is used in different ways by different manufacturers and retailers, which hampers consumers’ interpretation of the...

Poor understanding of allergen labelling by allergic and non-allergic consumers

Background: Understanding consumers’ interpretation of allergy information is crucial for effective food safety policies. We evaluated consumer understanding of allergy information on foods in controlled, experimental studies. Method: Using 18 packaged foods, we evaluated consumer understanding of information about allergens in two experiments:...

Allergen labelling: Current practice and improvement from a communication perspective

Background: Allergen information on product labels is crucial in food allergy management, though inadequacy in current labelling practices is one of the major causes for accidental reactions upon consuming prepacked food products. Objective: This study analyses current status of communicating allergen information on food labels and provides...

A systematic review of the effect of thermal processing on the allergenicity of tree nuts

Background Allergenicity of foods can be influenced by processing. Tree nuts are an important source of nutrition and increasingly consumed; however, processing methods are quite variable and data are currently lacking on the effects of processing on allergenicity. Objective To perform a systematic literature review on the effects of food...