The US Congress is to consider a clear-language bill that is now before the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The bill would oblige companies to use clear terms to assist, for example, consumers with food allergies.
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Some 30,000 people are treated in US emergency rooms every year after suffering violent allergic reactions to food. Clearer labelling could help prevent many of these incidents.
Manufacturers have been working hard to regulate their own labelling, with industry guidelines recommending that labelling on processed foods list allergy-provoking ingredients such as nuts, soy and milk in plain English. The industry also pledged to stop listing allergens found in additives as just ‘natural flavours,’ reported the New York Times.
However, some products still list milk as whey (which many consumers do not realise is a dairy product). A study released last month by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology found that less than a tenth of parents whose children had food allergies could read food labels and identify which contained milk.
The bill would demand that the eight main food allergens be identified by their more common name, and that those in additives be disclosed on ingredients lists.
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