Zurzolo Giovanni A, Mathai Michael L, Koplin Jennifer J, Allen Katrina J
Gastro and Food Allergy, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
J Paediatr Child Health. 2013 Apr;49(4):E306-10. doi: 10.1111/jpc.12138. Epub 2013 Mar 13.
We aimed to assess the prevalence and types of precautionary labelling statements for common food allergens on the packages of products for which these allergens were not listed as an ingredient and to investigate the uptake of the Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling, a new risk management tool developed in Australia to assist with declaring the possible presence of allergens in food products by manufacturers. We also aimed to examine changes in the prevalence of precautionary labelling for egg, peanuts and tree nuts over a 3-year period.
All packaged processed goods in a large supermarket in Melbourne, Australia, were examined for precautionary labelling between May and July 2011.
In total, 1355 products were investigated. Overall, 882 products (65%) had a precautionary statement for one or more allergens. The most common allergens listed on precautionary statements were tree nuts (36.2%) and peanuts (34.1%), followed by sesame (27.5%) and egg (22.6%). Of those that had precautionary statements, 'May contain traces of …' was the most common type of precautionary label used on 392 products (29.0%). This was followed by 'May be present' on 172 products (12.7%).
The use of precautionary labelling for peanut, tree nuts and egg remained high. The uptake of the Voluntary Incidental Trace Allergen Labelling 'May be present' statement was low in comparison with other precautionary statements, but there has been an increase since 2009.
我们旨在评估未将常见食物过敏原列为成分的产品包装上预防性标签声明的流行情况和类型，并调查自愿性偶然微量过敏原标签（澳大利亚开发的一种新风险管理工具，旨在帮助制造商声明食品中可能存在的过敏原）的采用情况。我们还旨在研究在三年期间鸡蛋、花生和坚果预防性标签流行情况的变化。
2011年5月至7月期间，对澳大利亚墨尔本一家大型超市中的所有包装加工食品进行了预防性标签检查。
总共调查了1355种产品。总体而言，882种产品（65%）有针对一种或多种过敏原的预防性声明。预防性声明中列出的最常见过敏原是坚果（36.2%）和花生（34.1%），其次是芝麻（27.5%）和鸡蛋（22.6%）。在有预防性声明的产品中，“可能含有微量……”是392种产品（29.0%）上使用的最常见预防性标签类型。其次是172种产品（12.7%）上的“可能存在”。
花生、坚果和鸡蛋预防性标签的使用仍然很普遍。与其他预防性声明相比，自愿性偶然微量过敏原标签“可能存在”声明的采用率较低，但自2009年以来有所增加。
