Food Allergen Watch

When my now 19 year old son was 5 years old, he was diagnosed with a tree nut allergy.  My older son gave him a chocolate chip cookie with walnuts for a snack and within moments of finishing the cookie, he complained of difficulty breathing.  Thankfully, we were visiting friends and there were doctors in the house who were able to help.  I immediately made an appointment to take him to the allergist where he was tested for food allergies.  The results:  an allergy to tree nuts, with the worst reaction being to walnuts.

Years later, my son was eating a popcorn snack.  He right away complained that he was having difficulty breathing.  I read the ingredients…no nuts were listed.  I emptied the entire package onto a plate, and I found several walnuts mixed in.  But the label did not list nuts in the ingredient list!  I was appalled.  I called the company to complain, and all they could do was apologize (and offered me a coupon, which I did NOT want).

Over the past decade the FDA has made significant changes in making food labels clearer and more informative to the consumer.  Along with additional nutrition information on food products, foods that can be allergens have also been required to be stated on the package.  However this process has not been perfected.  Some manufacturers have mislabeled ingredients, or left an ingredient out making it difficult to spot this mistake.   You don’t realize there is a problem until the allergic person has some type of reaction, or reports getting sick.

The Food and Drug Administration has made 20 recalls in the last 60 days for unrecorded food allergens on food products “including Chicken of the Sea Tuna, which had undeclared soy; two kinds of Wegmans Brownie Mix with undeclared milk; and two kinds of ice cream with undeclared pecans, according to FDA records.”  An analysis done by ABC News found that there have been more than 400 reported recalls to the FDA for undeclared allergens since 2009.  The majority came from cookies, ice creams and candy.

According to the CDC the most common food allergies come from eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat and there has been an increase in food allergies in children over the past few years.

In 2006, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act went into effect requiring food manufacturers to list the top eight allergens on food labels, in terms that consumers can understand.  For example, you may see a label that says: “product may contain traces of nuts” because it was processed in a factory that contains nuts.  In actuality, many cases do occur because a manufacturer failed to mention that the product was processed in a plant where cross contamination occurred versus forgetting to mention the allergen is contained in a product.

It may take time until the food allergen law is perfected and foods do not have to be recalled.  Until then, as consumers we have to be aware and stay informed of new information that is being released.  Be sure to look at food product labels to check for any advisory labels and look at the list of ingredients to ensure you are not eating foods that can cause allergic reactions.  If you have any questions, call the food company phone number on the back of the package and they can help to answer any questions you may have.

How have food allergens affected your life?

Like this post? Share it!