Food allergy articles
Article pagesBetween September 1999 and March 2000, FDA researchers working with state inspectors from Wisconsin and Minnesota inspected 85 bakery product, ice cream and candy manufacturers for allergen labeling and cross-contamination issues, with a focus on peanut and egg allergens. Many of the firms in the study were small- to medium-sized operations. The joint study was prompted, in part, by a jump in the number of national recalls due to allergy-related ingredients not being listed on labels.
Samples were collected for egg and peanut protein analysis only when labeling or cross-contamination issues were identified by the investigator. Eighteen of the 73 samples (25 percent) of ice cream, bakery and candy food products tested positive for peanut allergens, although peanuts were not listed on product labels. Investigators also found that companies unintentionally introduced food allergens into other foods through poor cleaning and cooking schedules or improper cleaning of utensils.
"These findings show that more work is needed," Falci says.
The inspectors also found that just over half of the manufacturers checked their products to ensure that the labels accurately reflected all of the ingredients.
"We certainly have legal authority at the moment to allow for recalls of undeclared allergens, and recalls are occurring for that reason," Falci says. "We're only in the beginning stages of negotiating and talking with the food industry about some things we'd like to potentially see on the label. However, the industry is beginning to take voluntary actions, which we applaud."
