For people with food allergy and those who care for them, reading ingredient labels and any allergen statements is very important to avoid food allergen triggers.
Reading food labels every time a food is purchased takes time, but checking every time will improve safety.
Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia (A&AA) advises that people shopping for someone with food allergy should read the ingredient information, allergen summary statement and any precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) statement on all food products purchased – when buying the food, unpacking the food at home and before eating.
Reading food labels can be confusing due to many reasons, including:
1. The same food product may contain different allergens according to the packaging size or type.
This is because manufacturers sometimes need to change the ingredients to accommodate the various different sizes and types of packaging. For example, the ingredients used in a product packaged in a can may differ from a larger pouch of the same product.
2. Food allergens may be different because food manufacturers may also have manufacturing sites both in Australia and overseas.
This means food allergens can vary depending on the factory a product is made in. For example, Nestle had KitKat Easter bunnies made in Italy that did not contain wheat or soy as an ingredient, but a similar Easter bunny made in Australia did contain wheat and soy.
It is often difficult for Australia to operate ‘allergen free’ manufacturing sites due to the relatively small number of people (compared to the US or UK, for example) and higher costs.
3. Different varieties of the same, or a very similar food product contain different allergens.
This is sometimes seen with chocolate and biscuits.
4. Product recipes can change over time with the addition or removal of specific allergens.
Sometimes, food products that appear to be the same, but have different allergens, are on the shelf at the same time.
Companies that make changes to their ingredients are encouraged to alert A&AA and add a notice to the front of the pack saying that allergens have changed, or that the product is being made to a new recipe, to remind people to check the label in case an allergen has been added (or in some cases, removed).
See the example pictured from Leggo’s some years ago.
5. Imported foods can be almost identical to locally produced brands or two products made in different countries might be imported at the same time.
Branding and the appearance of packaging may be very similar, but the allergen content, including the precautionary allergen labelling statement can differ. Sometimes, importers purchase large amounts of a particular packaged food, such as chocolate bars, from another country even though that same product is available in Australia. The importer then sometimes sells the product through dollar shops and small convenience shops at a cheaper cost. This is called parallel importing.
For example, the rice crackers pictured were purchased from the same store some years ago. One has a summary statement saying it contained sesame seeds and the other did not mention sesame seeds, even in a precautionary allergen labelling statement. The products were sold in the same grocery store but made in different countries – the top product was made in Cambodia, the bottom product was made in Australia.
While we encourage food manufacturers to vary the appearance of products with different ingredients to enable people who buy them to tell the difference, this is not required by law.
We encourage companies to consider the A&AA paid service of alerting subscribers, social media followers and website visitors to changes in their ingredient labelling through social media posts, email and website information.
People can contact A&AA to discuss food labelling issues and report allergic reactions to packaged food or when eating out after telling staff about their food allergy.