If you or your child have been diagnosed with a food allergy, it’s time to become a food detective. Since an allergic reaction can be severe or even life threatening, it’s critical to read all food labels carefully and learn to search for and identify any and all sources of the allergen.
There is a basic labeling rule: the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act requires that the labels of foods (including conventional foods, dietary supplements, infant formula, and medical foods) containing the eight major food allergens — milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, and soy — note the allergen in plain language. The allergen(s) are identified in plain language either in the ingredients list or in the following ways:
- The word “Contains” followed by the name of the major food allergen.
- In the ingredients list in parentheses. For example, “albumin (egg).”
Allergens must be listed if they’re present in any amount.
Food labels may also use advisory labeling, such as “may contain” statements, “processed in a facility that also processes,” or “made on equipment with.” These statements are voluntary for manufacturers, and they may or may not indicate if a product contains a specific allergen.
It’s also important to become familiar with less-obvious names of the allergen or hidden ingredients that contain it. For example, when “casein” is listed instead of milk or “semolina” instead of wheat.
Food Allergy Research & Education offers Tips for Avoiding Your Allergen, which lists each food allergen and a list of foods that contain that allergen, foods that sometimes contain the allergen, and helpful tips to keep in mind for avoiding the allergen. Print out this helpful info and keep it handy to use while shopping.
Keep in mind that manufacturers can change a product’s ingredients without warning, so don’t assume that the ingredients will be the same because the last time you purchased the product it was safe. Also, different sizes of the same product may have different ingredients, or may have been manufactured on shared equipment.
The bottom line: don’t assume anything! Learning how to carefully read food labels every time you purchase a product will help avoid reactions.