Allergy Community Still Concerned About FDA’s Temporary Labeling Guidance
In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued temporary guidance for food labeling in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance was temporarily updated due to food manufacturers’ claims that ingredient shortages and supply chain disruptions would require recipe reformulations—meaning the omission or substitution of minor ingredients. Taking the time to incorporate new labels would require production to slow down. To accommodate food manufacturers, FDA is allowing them to substitute up to 2 percent of ingredients without requiring changes to product labels.
FDA’s temporary guidance states that substitutions cannot include the Big 8 allergens. However, consumers who are allergic to ingredients outside of that list—like sesame, celery, or mustard, which are all considered allergens in the EU—still have cause for concern.