Allergy management

Allergy management

The eight most common food allergens (crustaceans, eggs, fish, milk, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, sesame seeds and their products), gluten and sulphites must always be listed in the ingredients list or in a separate advisory statement. Products containing Royal Jelly must also provide a warning statement on the food label.

• Look for warning statements like “contains peanuts” or “may contain traces of egg or egg products” on the package.

Sometimes ingredients derived from these allergens are not easy to identify in ingredient lists. e.g. Milk and its products can be listed as casein, hydrolysed whey and lacto acidophilus. As such, the NSW Food Authority has worked with Anaphylaxis Australia and FSANZ to produce lists of ingredients to avoid on food labels for each of the top eight allergens.

To order an allergen ingredient card, contact 1300 552 406.

Advisory and warning statements

If a food contains an ingredient or components of an ingredient that can cause a severe adverse reaction then it must be declared on the label no matter how small the amount. This declaration usually appears in the ingredient list.

Separate advisory statements must be made on the label for the following ingredients:

• Aspartame – ‘contains phenylalanine’
• Added caffeine in cola drinks – ‘contains caffeine’
• Guarana – ‘contains caffeine’
• Quinine – ‘contains quinine’
• Unpasteurised egg and milk products – ‘unpasteurised’

Standard 1.2.3 – Mandatory Warning and Advisory Statements and Declarations, of the Food Standards Code provides detailed explanations of these requirements for food businesses to follow.