Push to make allergen labelling clearer

Now there’s a push for tougher rules about how products are labelled after a choc chip cookie killed a child.

Isabel Marrero was 9-years-old when she died from an anaphylactic reaction in March this year, after she ate what looked like her favourite biscuit.  Her mother didn’t realise that she had purchased a different product, as this biscuit packaging – bar one word –  looked the same as the one she’d been buying for years.

“We learn from every death and we should be learning from what happened to Isabel,” Maria Said, CEO of Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia said.  “… make allergen declarations clearer so that consumers can have greater confidence in getting the information they need to make informed and safe food choices.”

The Food Standards Code require businesses to declare allergens on product labels – but it doesn’t say how or where. And there are no requirements to inform customers if they alter the product.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) told ten daily they’re now working on a proposal to change the law.

Australia is the allergy capital of the world — 1 in 20 Aussie kids has a food allergy.

There has been a 10 percent increase in allergy fatalities between 2007 to 2013.

Click here to read the full article from ten daily.

There are now 10 allergens.  Make sure you and your staff know what they are.  Make sure your food safety training is up to date.

Click here to download a free printable poster.

image: google