4 November 2014

The Food Standards Agency has today published a nationwide snap shot survey on a cross section of pre packed processed foods both with and without allergen advisory labelling.

The survey aimed to provide an improved understanding of the types of allergen advisory labelling used on pre packed processed foods in the UK and whether the labelling was related to the level of allergen present as a result of cross contamination.

The survey looked at levels of allergens, including gluten, in products labelled with phrases like ‘may contain gluten’. It also sampled products without this type of advisory labelling. In total, the survey sampled 1,016 samples across 12 different product categories.

Overall the results were positive, showing that cross contamination is well controlled by manufacturers. The survey found that 19% of samples where no gluten was detected had an advisory ‘may contain’ label. And 2.8% (eight products) that did not use a ‘may contain’ statement for gluten contained a level of gluten above the 20 ppm threshold.

Guidance from the Food Standards Agency urges manufacturers to carry out risk assessment of their processes to establish whether a precautionary statement is appropriate. We hope that this research highlights the need for manufacturers to review their labelling regularly and to only use a ‘may contain’ statement when appropriate. The levels of gluten in the products that did not use a precautionary statement for gluten were very low and were mainly the types of products used in a very small amount. Therefore these were not considered to be a risk for people with coeliac disease.

You can read the full report from the Food Standards Agency on their website.