Scientists Call on the EU to Enact Food Allergen Regulation to Protect Consumers

The European Union should initiate harmonized food allergen regulation to protect consumers, a group of researchers argue in a new position paper. 

The authors of the position paper, to be published in the February 2025 issue of Food Control, state that “although food allergy is a condition affecting up to 10% of the consumers worldwide, a European harmonised approach for the management of precautionary allergen labeling, allergen reference doses, analytical methods or food product monitoring is not in place.” 

According to the ten scientists who compiled the position paper, the lack of a harmonized approach for allergen safety leads to “limited food choices for consumers with food allergies but can also result in the occurrence of serious allergic incidents." 

Titled “The Changing Food Allergen Landscape in Europe Calls for Harmonised Food Allergen Monitoring,” the paper argues that this lack of harmonization poses risks and considerable costs for individual consumers and society in general. 

“We believe that there is a pressing need to update the European legislation on food allergens, including the introduction of harmonised monitoring programmes, which will lead to improved overall food safety, and better protection and options for consumers with food allergies," the authors wrote. 

They argue that the ability to make informed decisions about the safety of the food they consume is ensured by EU Regulation 178/2002 article 8: “the protection of the consumers’ interests; Food law shall aim at the protection of the interests of consumers and shall provide a basis for consumers to make informed choices in relation to the foods they consume.”  

As Food Safety Magazine wrote this week, EU member states have differing rules on the management of unintentional allergens in food products “leading to consumer uncertainty and limited choices for allergic people, and hindering collaboration between laboratories.”

Food Magazine wrote “At present, cooperation between European laboratories is stymied by differences in the reference doses and portion sizes used when monitoring allergens in food. This leads to the development of different allergen tests tailored to individual countries’ standards, preventing laboratories in separate EU countries from building upon each other’s knowledge or integrating data.”

Under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, eight foods are recognized in the United States as major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. In 2021, the Food Allergy Safety,  Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) was signed into law, which declared sesame as the 9th major food allergen recognized by the US.  

Under these U.S. guidelines, food sold in retail food establishments must declare all of the 9 allergens on the labeling. This also applies to unpackaged foods and bulk foods at retail establishments. Also, employee food safety training programs must include food allergy awareness. 

Peanuts, tree nuts, and cow’s milk are the food allergens most-likely to cause the life-threatening reaction anaphylaxis. 

The U.S. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that 30,000 emergency room visits, 2,000 hospitalizations, and 150 deaths occur every year due to extreme allergic reactions. 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 6.2% of U.S. adults and children have a food allergy. CDC data also states that Black, Non-Hispanic adults, and children are the most likely to have food allergies. According to CDC figures published in 2023, 8.5% of Black, non-Hisptanic adults have a food allergy and Black, non-Hsipancic children are more likely to have a food allergy (7.6%) compared to Hispanic (5%) and White, non-Hispanic (5.3%) children. 

Earlier this year, a study that examined food safety recalls in the U.S. between 2002 and 2023 found that allergens accounted for 28% of all recalls during the time period. 

In September, Rootwurks hosted Betsy Craig, the CEO and Founder of MenuTrinfo and Co-Chair of the Food Allergen Committee for the Conference for Food Protection for the webinar “How to Prevent Allergens and Safeguard Your Company.” If you missed the live broadcast, you can still catch the webinar on-demand here.