Allergen Control

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a letter reminding developers and manufacturers of new plant varieties intending to transfer genes for proteins that are food allergens into new plant varieties used for food of the relevant legal requirements for such products.

The majority of food allergen recalls are caused by preventable labeling errors, according to a recent analysis of recall data for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) –regulated products.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised the guidance, titled, Labeling of Certain Beers Subject to the Labeling Jurisdiction of FDA, as well as two other guidances, to add “sesame” to the list of major food allergens for labeling purposes.

To leverage scientific knowledge for action on food allergens, Scientific Advice Program teams from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) collaborated with the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) to host a webinar discussing the outcomes of food allergen expert consultations.

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is seeking stakeholder input on official advice for the proper use of precautionary allergen labels (PALs), which suggests that food businesses specify which of the 14 major allergens to which a PAL refers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced draft recommendations for industry on the naming of plant-based foods that are marketed and sold as alternatives to milk.

Every fourth restaurant and café in Sweden provides incorrect information about allergenic ingredients, according to a report from the Swedish Food Agency (also known as Livsmedelsverket in Swedish).

Risk-based approaches for food allergens offer a path forward for both allergen management and precautionary allergen labeling decision-making. After many years of research, a clearer picture has emerged of the population-level, threshold-dose distributions for major food allergens using data generated in double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge studies. If the food allergen management field is headed for a shift toward quantitative, risk-based management strategies, however, then several method considerations and important data gaps must be addressed.

Experts with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have developed a process for the consideration of future exemptions of highly refined foods and ingredients derived from or containing a priority allergen food.

A recent study analyzing food allergen recalls in the UK from 2016–2021 has revealed allergens to be the most prevalent cause, and milk to be the most commonly implicated allergen.