Dive Brief:
- USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has released a set of guidelines for companies concerning food allergens, which is meant in particular for meat, poultry, and processed egg companies to help them better manage ingredients.
- The 26-page set of guidelines comes in response to public health concerns about adverse reactions to food allergens in the U.S., including a section about the "Big Eight" allergens: wheat, crustacean shellfish, eggs, fish, peanuts, milk, tree nuts, and soybeans, which cause about 90% of the total food-related allergic reactions in the country.
- Recalls due to undeclared food allergens and ingredients of public health concern have become increasingly common over the past several years, rising in number from seven in 2008 to 29 in 2012. The proportion of these recalls also jumped during that period from 13% in 2008 to 35% in 2012.
Dive Insight:
"By following these new guidelines, FSIS stated that establishments are more likely to ensure that product labels declare all ingredients, as required by law, and that products do not contain undeclared allergens or other undeclared ingredients. The guidance covers prevention and control measures of potentially allergic ingredients, packaging, labeling, storage, checklists, and allergen training, among others," Food Safety News reported.
In addition to signaling the development of more strict guidelines for food companies, the prevalence of food allergies has also led to the rise of the free-from foods industry. Free-from pioneer Enjoy Life Foods told Food Dive that the company brought the term "free-from" from Europe and designated it as a term to mean free from allergens, though "free-from" has also evolved to include gluten-free and non-GMO foods, among other categories.
General Mills recently faced issues with its gluten-free-labeled Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios products, having to recall 1.8 million boxes made at its Lodi, CA, factory in July as the facility’s gluten-free oat flour system was contaminated with wheat flour. The company now has to contend with a class-action lawsuit.