Food safety and quality

FAO food safety experts shed light on allergens for Codex committee

27/03/2023

“The food of one may be poison to others" - Lucretius, Roman philospher.

Food allergies are a result of the body’s immune system developing antibodies in response to proteins present in food. With effects impacting the digestive tract, the skin and the respiratory system, the symptoms of food allergies vary from mild to severe. Globally, over 220 million people must avoid certain foods because of allergies.

To leverage scientific knowledge for action on allergens, the FAO and WHO Scientific Advice Programme teams collaborated with the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL)  in hosting a  webinar about the outcomes of the food allergen expert consultations convened on this topic. The webinar described the approaches used in  the most recent series of meetings to holistically address risks associated with food allergens. This webinar also addressed how  the updated quantitative risk assessment could be used to develop  risk management decisions, and facilitated the work by CCFL  in updating  Codex texts. The following topics were discussed:

  • What are the priority food allergens? Cereals containing gluten, crustacean, egg, fish, peanut, milk, tree nuts (hazelnut, cashew, walnut, pistachio, pecan, almond), sesame.
  • How much is too much? A quantitative risk assessment approach was established to answer this question for each allergen.
  • How do consumers need to be alerted about the presence of allergens in food? Precautionary labelling based on the risk assessment is most appropriate.
  • Would  exempting label requirements for certain foods increase consumer risks? The answer to this question can be determined by using  risk assessment, conveniently aided by a  flow chart.

Watch the webinar here

 

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