The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued new guidance to food producers and retailers designed to improve food labelling for people with allergies.
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The guidance, called Allergen Management and Advisory Labelling, follows agency research showing that food warnings such as ‘may contain nuts’ are used too widely on pre-packed foods.
The new and voluntary best practice guidance is being launched to help pre-packaged food companies assess the risk of cross-contamination with allergens and provide appropriate advisory labels that are clearer for consumers to understand.
The FSA have supplied a specific leaflet for small businesses as they are considered to have different needs and concerns to those of larger companies.
FSA food allergy branch head Sue Hattersley said: “Up to 1.5m people in the UK have food allergies and it is vital that they are fully informed about the contents of the foods they are buying. Advisory labelling should only be used when, following a thorough risk assessment, there is a real risk of allergen cross-contamination.
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By GlobalData“Excessive use of warning labels about the possible presence of allergens, can restrict consumer choice and devalue the impact of warning labels.”
