Current treatment options for food allergy are limited. Chinese herbal therapy may prevent reactions. Oral desensitization may one day provide a more permanent cure. Unfortunately, neither treatment is available today. Instead, patients and parents are instructed to avoid a food (or group of foods) without error.
When eating out, you must rely on the kitchen staff. When eating at home, you must rely on the ingredient list provided by the manufacturer. These food labels may be inaccurate or difficult to interpret.
Reading a label is an acquired skill. In order to be successful, parents need to know the benefits and limitations of current labeling laws. Most important is the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection ACT (FALCPA); passed in 2004 and in effect since 2006. This law requires labels to plainly state, in clear english, if they contain a major food allergen. The major food allergens are milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, peanut, tree nuts, wheat and soy). These ingredients must be listed if they are present in any amount, even in colors, flavors or spice blends. Additionally, the manufacturer must list the specific nut and/or seafood that is used. The food name can be found in one of two places;
1. Within the ingredient list; i.e. “natural flavoring (egg)”.
2. An adjacent “contains” statement; i.e. “Contains egg.” These are usually in bold type.
Passing this law was a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, there remain limitations;
• Only 8 foods groups are required. If you are allergic something else (i.e. sesame seed), it may not be included in the “contains” statement. If you are sensitive to something else (i.e. gluten or preservatives), it will not be included. You must read the full ingredient list.
• Alcoholic beverages, meat, poultry, and certain egg products are not regulated.
• Advisory labels for possible cross contamination are voluntary and inconsistent. Examples include, “May contain traces of peanut,” “Processed on equipment that also processes peanuts,” or “Made in a facility that processes peanuts.”
FALCPA requirements do not apply to potential or unintentional presence of major food allergens in foods resulting from ‘cross-contact’ situations during manufacturing, e.g. because of shared equipment or processing lines. It is left to the discretion of the company if they would like to include a warning statement. The wording of such statements is also left to the company. There are no parameters. This lack of consistency lowers the value of all statements. Their high prevalence and ambiguity leads consumers to doubt their legitimacy. In the end, warning statements are often ignored.
The warning statement is only valuable if can convey the risk of contamination and help parents to make informed decisions. Useful information would include, the probability that the product contains peanut and the amount of peanut that may be present. Several studies have analyzed foods in order to answer these questions. A study from Ireland, looking at 38 food products with a nut statement, found detectable peanut in 5% of foods. The amount of nut protein varied from 0.14 to 0.52 mg per serving (or less than 1/100 of a peanut). A more recent US study found that 8.6% of foods with a peanut advisory contained a detectable level of peanut protein. Nutrition bars contained the highest levels. Other high risk foods include chocolate candies, cookies and baking mixes.
The problem is not limited to peanuts and tree nuts. In a 2010 study of milk, egg, and peanut; the highest level of contamination was for milk (10.2%). Overall 5.3% of foods with an advisory label were contaminated. The levels of milk found were within the range that may cause a reaction. On the other hand, peanut levels were low. It was estimated that the level of peanut contamination would cause a reaction in only 5% of peanut allergic children, making the overall risk of reaction less than 1%.
The amount of protein that may cause a reaction (threshold) varies dramatically in different children. This makes label standards difficult. The Australian Allergen Bureau have been using investigation and statistics to overcome this obstacle. A Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labeling (VITAL) program was developed to make a single simple standardized precautionary statement available to assist food producers in presenting allergen advice consistently for allergic consumers. VITAL not only assists food producers in assessing the potential impact of allergen cross contact in each of their products but also specifies a particular precautionary allergen statement to be used according to the level of cross contact identified. The initial goal was to label foods with peanut levels higher than 1.5 mg, the amount likely to cause a reaction in 5% of peanut allergic children. With VITAL 2.0, the level drops to 0.2 mg, only 1% of peanut allergic children will react at this level. Additionally, VITAL 2.0 provides manufactures with an action grid containing 24 total foods.
Recommendations that are not specific are not helpful. At this point, the safest course is to avoid any food that declares the major allergen. Parents must read labels ALL of the time. Ingredients can change. In the end, if you are unsure whether or not a product could be contaminated, you should call the manufacturer to ask about their ingredients and manufacturing practices.
