Food Labelling
Allergen Services

Food labelling which is accurate and easy to understand is likely to become law following a review by the Food Standards Agency and the UK Government after the tragic deaths of individuals with food allergies.

We work with your ingredients list, providing desktop publishing support to produce labels or over-stickers to ensure your customers are fully informed.

And, if you are entering new markets, we can provide translation and compliance services to ensure you meet the needs of each of your new markets.

When allergens aren’t labelled tragedy can result. In the UK, two people died recently due to incorrectly marked sandwiches from popular ready-to-eat chain Pret a Manger. One victim, Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, was only 15 years old and allergic to sesame.

She read the label on the sandwich she picked up at the airport. Unfortunately, it didn’t list the sesame seeds baked into the bread. Under the current ‘fresh foods exception”, it didn’t have to. She collapsed on the plane and died a few days later. Incidents like these generate new labelling laws that can vary by country.

The “fresh foods” loophole is likely to close soon in the UK, with the expected passage of Natasha’s Law. In the United States of America, sesame seeds aren’t required to be listed as an allergen. However, they are required to be listed and appropriately highlighted in processed food labels in Europe, Canada and Australia.

With so many different regulations in play, it’s easy to see how allergen information could end up missing or listed improperly, even with the best of intentions.