FSA enhances allergen labelling guidelines for food businesses

FSA enhances allergen labelling guidelines for food businesses

Business

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has updated its best practice technical guidance on allergen labelling to ensure the safety of consumers while supporting food businesses.

This guidance aligns with the newly published FDF Change Management of Allergen Information guidance.

Key recommendations from the FSA's updated guidance include:

  1. Limited Precautionary Allergen Labels (PALs): Food businesses should only use a PAL when there's an unavoidable risk of allergen cross-contamination that can't be sufficiently controlled by segregation and cleaning.
  2. Specify Allergen Type: When using PALs, businesses should specify which of the 14 major allergens is involved. For instance, they should use "may contain peanuts" instead of a generic "may contain nuts" statement.
  3. Combine PALs with 'Vegan' Labels: In cases where there's a risk of allergen cross-contamination, businesses should use PAL statements alongside a 'vegan' label. It's important to note that a 'vegan' label conveys different information than a 'free-from' claim, which targets different consumer groups.

The guidance also advises against using a PAL statement alongside a "free from" claim and provides updated best practices for No Gluten Containing Ingredient (NGCI) statements for non-prepacked food businesses.

Plant base products credit Tesco PLC
Plant base products © Tesco PLC

The FSA remains committed to addressing food hypersensitivity as a top priority. Future initiatives include collaborating with international food standards organisations to establish allergen threshold standards and exploring ways to enhance allergen information provision, including potential standardization efforts in this field.

Latest Packaging News

Nestlé introduces 'Self-Packing Cheese' with biodegradable whey-based packaging
Sustainability

Nestlé introduces 'Self-Packing Cheese' with biodegradable whey-based packaging

Nestlé Central America, in partnership with Ogilvy Colombia, has unveiled an innovative packaging...
New Coca-Cola cans celebrate Premier League partnership with club colours
Business

New Coca-Cola cans celebrate Premier League partnership with club colours

Coca-Cola is set to roll out an exclusive on-pack promotion across the UK and Ireland to mark the...
Syntegon Pharmatag 2025: Enabling collaborative success
Supplier News

Syntegon Pharmatag 2025: Enabling collaborative success

On May 20 and 21, 2025, Syntegon, a leading strategic partner to the global pharmaceutical,...
Spectra to showcase sustainable innovations at CosmeticBusiness in Munich
Supplier News

Spectra to showcase sustainable innovations at CosmeticBusiness in Munich

Spectra is delighted to announce its participation in this year’s CosmeticBusiness show on June 4th...
ZARELO introduces new paper-based packaging solution for barbecue starters
Sustainability

ZARELO introduces new paper-based packaging solution for barbecue starters

Mondi and ZARELO have partnered to introduce a recyclable paper-based packaging solution for fire...