Characteristics of Allergen Labelling and Precautionary Allergen Labelling in Packaged Food Products Available in Latin America.
Nutrients
; 12(9)2020 Sep 04.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32899689
The characteristics of food allergen labelling are relevant for avoiding accidental exposure to the allergens of interest but no Latin American country has evaluated these characteristics. Our aim was to evaluate the characteristics of food allergen labelling and precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) in six Latin American countries. All data were collected directly from the supermarkets surveyed. A total of 10,254 packaged food products were analyzed, of which 63.3% (n = 6494) and 33.2% (n = 3405) featured allergen labelling and/or PAL, respectively. Most products complied with local regulations (≥87.4% for both locally produced and imported). Thirty-three types of PAL statements were detected; the most frequent was "may contain traces of
" (35.1%). Countries without regulations on the characteristics of allergen labelling had two-fold more products that contained allergens in their ingredients lists but no food allergen labelling. The use of PAL in countries that regulate it (38.2%) was as high as that in countries without PAL regulations (19.2%-44.7%). The findings suggest that the lack of regulations for the characteristics of allergen labeling increases the risk of accidental exposure to allergens of interest. Our findings also suggest that beyond regulations, a scientific approach is required for minimizing and standardizing the use of PAL.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Alérgenos
/
Hipersensibilidad a los Alimentos
/
Etiquetado de Alimentos
/
Ingredientes Alimentarios
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Evaluation_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nutrients
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
México
Pais de publicación:
Suiza