Patients are now going to have more information about whether packaged foods contain ingredients to which they are allergic. Effective January 1, 2006, FDA is requiring food labels to state clearly whether the product includes ingredients that contain proteins that are derived from one of the eight major food allergens. Those are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans.
Although food labels are already required to list all the ingredients in the product, the new rule requires any ingredient that contains one of these allergenic proteins has to be clearly identified in plain English. For example, if a product contains casein, which is a milk protein, the label now has to use the term "milk," so that a person allergic to milk will understand that he or she should avoid this product. That's especially important for children and their caregivers, who must learn to recognize the presence of substances that must be avoided.
About 160 foods have been identified as causing allergies, but the eight major food allergens covered by the new requirement are responsible for about 90 percent of all food allergies in the U.S. The requirements are quite specific. The label can't simply say "fish." It has to state "flounder," for example, or "cod." The same holds true for the type of nut the food contains, or the type of shellfish.
The new law doesn't extend to food prepared in restaurants, so consumers will have to ask questions in the restaurant about ingredients. The law also doesn't apply to fresh fruits and vegetables or to highly refined oils that are made from one of the eight major food allergens, such as highly refined peanut oil or soybean oil, because these oils aren't considered to be major food allergens.
Any food labeled after January 1, 2006, has to have the new labeling. But the new law doesn't require that foods already on the shelves be removed or relabeled. That means that for some period of time, shoppers will continue to see foods in the marketplace that don't yet have the new labeling.
Author: LawsuitGuru
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