Submit Your Concerns to the FDA About Confusing Food Labels by January 14, 2009

This seems to be a HOT issue today! I stumbled on a blog, a news story and a message in one of my Facebook groups, all having to do with food labels and the risks associated for those with severe food allergies. Obviously, it's an issue that hits close to home... this danger and frustration of "May contain...."

A story in the Chicago Tribune last month titled, "Children at risk in food roulette" says kids with food allergies are being used as guinea pigs. They are suffering avoidable life-threatening reactions because manufacturers mislabel their products and regulators don't police them effectively. Read and Digg the story here. The Tribune also has a link to a database of allergy-related food recalls from the last 10 years, sorted by product, allergen, recalling firm, or kind of food. It's work a bookmark!

This is especially risky for those who are allergic to preservatives and natural flavorings, since the FDA currently does not require that these ingredients be disclosed. But we, as consumers have an opportunity to submit our vote on this matter.

ACTION ITEM: The FDA is accepting comments on this issue until January 14, 2009. Please go to the FDA's docket page on "Food Labeling; Current Trends in the Use of Allergen Advisory Labeling: Its Use, Effectiveness, and Consumer Perception; Public Hearing; Request for Comments" and SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT.

Reading Food Labels for Allergens

If reading food labels has you mystified, you are not alone. The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) is a landmark piece of legislation for food allergy families. The spirit of the law is to protect consumers (like my son) from accidental exposure by mandating that food manufacturers fully disclose the ingredients of their products, specifically the top eight allergens. Yet, the intricate details of the law leave many shoppers confused.

When I had to start reading food labels for potential peanuts and tree nuts, I would mistakenly look only for advisory labeling underneath the ingredient list... the thing that says, "Contains peanuts and tree nuts." If there was none, I thought it was safe. This is NOT TRUE.

The letter of the law is as follows:

(1) If it is not a raw agricultural commodity and it is, or it contains an ingredient that bears or contains, a major food allergen, unless either--
1. ``(A) the word `Contains', followed by the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived, is printed immediately after or is adjacent to the list of ingredients (in a type size no smaller than the type size used in the list of ingredients) required under subsections (g) and (i); or
2. ``(B) the common or usual name of the major food allergen in the list of ingredients required under subsections (g) and (i) is followed in parentheses by the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived, except that the name of the food source is not required when--
1. ``(i) the common or usual name of the ingredient uses the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived; or
2. ``(ii) the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived appears elsewhere in the ingredient list, unless the name of the food source that appears elsewhere in the ingredient list appears as part of the name of a food ingredient that is not a major food allergen under section 201(qq)(2)(A) or (B).

My interpretation of the code is that at the very least, the common food allergen name will be clearly listed in the ingredient list. OR, text with "Contains" followed by the allergen will be included on the label.

Many food producers like Nabisco and Kellogg are quite judicious about using "Contains" on their labeling but this line of text is not required by the law. Other manufacturers like Pepperidge Farms, for example, do not include a separate CONTAINS line on their packaging. Although they are technically FALCPA compliant, their products are an example of why you really have to read food labels closely (as in, every line) to ensure that you are avoiding your trigger foods.