Just this week, supermarket chain, Co-op was forced to recall its ‘Irresistible’ lasagne range, due to allergen errors. The product was found to contain mustard and sulphites, both of which are certified allergens and neither of which were declared on pack.
Not only is this damaging to the company’s reputation, it’s also extremely dangerous for consumers.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” said a spokesperson for Co-op – arguably a meagre response to a potentially deadly mistake.
This highlights why it’s so important for food and beverage manufactures to know their stuff when it comes to allergens, including understanding the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance. Because while one can be an inconvenience (intolerance), the other can be deadly (allergy).
What is a food allergy?
Many confuse food allergies and food intolerances, and while they may be similar, they have fundamental differences.
A food allergy occurs when an individual’s immune system overreacts to certain proteins in foods. When someone consumes foods or drinks, they’re allergic to, it triggers immune cells in the bloodstream to release chemicals, such as histamine, that cause allergy symptoms including hives, skin rash, and itching of the lips, mouth, tongue, throat and face.
With a food allergy, the immune system mistakes proteins in certain foods as harmful, triggering an immune response. Food allergies can be mild or life-threatening. The most serious, an anaphylactic reaction, can cause symptoms including fainting, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, trouble breathing or chest tightness, swelling of the mouth, lips, or tongue, and complete loss of consciousness.
One distinguishing feature of food allergies is that the symptoms start almost immediately, or within minutes, of eating a particular food or drink.
It’s possible to be allergic to any food or beverage, however the most common are shellfish, peanuts, eggs, wheat, soy, tree nuts, sesame, fish and milk.
One unusual, but seemingly growing allergen for consumers is avocados.
“Avocado is becoming increasingly popular, which means more people are including it in their recipes,” said a spokesperson for New York Allergy and Sinus Centers. “Greater exposure to any food or product increases the chance of a developing an allergy. This is especially true of avocado. Many people have reported allergic reactions to the fruit.”
What is a food intolerance?
A food intolerance is when the body reacts negatively to a food, beverage, or additive to a food. It’s not classed as an allergy, as it does not activate an immune response.
Food intolerance symptoms mainly cause digestive symptoms but are not life threatening. They can be caused by low levels of enzymes needed to digest a particular food. For example, people with lactose intolerance are less efficient at digesting lactose, a natural sugar in milk and other dairy products. When they eat foods containing lactose, they may experience gastrointestinal symptoms, such as bloating and diarrhoea.
Again, it’s possible to have an intolerance to any food or beverage, but the most common are fructose, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and gluten.
What does this mean for the food and beverage industry?
According to the National Library of Medicine Food, food allergies affect an estimated 2.5% of the world’s population, and they’re on the rise. This highlights the importance of declaring all allergens on all food and beverage product packaging.
And industry is helping, with new guidance on the avoidance of allergen-related recalls, released by the Food & Drink Federation.
“Food manufacturers need a robust system that covers the entire manufacturing operation to help identify and mitigate potential allergen issues, to ensure product safety for people with food allergies,” says Susan Jebb, chair of the Food Standards Agency. “This guidance highlights important factors that should be considered when businesses assess allergen risks and also provides useful areas of focus when investigating the causes of allergen-related incidents to prevent future occurrences.”
The 14 certified allergens which must be declared on packaging in Europe are:
- Celery
- Cereals containing gluten (such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats)
- Crustaceans (such as prawns, crabs and lobsters)
- Eggs
- Fish
- Lupin
- Milk
- Molluscs (such as mussels and oysters)
- Mustard
- Peanuts
- Sesame
- Soybeans
- Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (if the sulphur dioxide and sulphites are at a concentration of more than ten parts per million)
- Tree nuts (such as almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pecans, pistachios and macadamia nuts).
Credit: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
Read more on how to correctly and affectively label your food and beverage products.
What NPD opportunities does this create for food and beverage?
While allergens are a major concern for food and beverage manufacturers. They also offer major NPD opportunities.
Brands are already profiting from the rise in gluten-free product sales, as those with an allergy or an intolerance to gluten, seek out alternatives. Additionally, the rise in alternative milk products is proving that those with either an allergy or an intolerance to dairy, want solutions.
In short, brands should be looking at the list of allergens as a to-do list. We’ve recently seen the emergence of alt peanut butters? So, what’s next? An alt mustard? The fact of the matter is, the first brand to jump on these opportunities will likely become the market leader, and as the statistics have shown, the number of consumers seeking out these products is growing.
Join FoodNavigator for day two of Protein Vision 2024, when we’ll be discussing the power of the alternative dairy market.
