Undeclared allergens the leading cause for food recalls
Food allergy sufferers and everyday Australians are being put at risk as a result of undisclosed ingredients and misleading product packaging mistakes. This is why so many products are being recalled.
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Food allergy sufferers are dicing with danger because of undisclosed ingredients and product packaging mistakes.
Undeclared allergens such as milk, wheat and tree nuts were the leading cause of food recalls in the past year, latest figures reveal.
The nation’s food regulator co-ordinated a record annual 106 incidents and recalls — a rate of two a week — in 2018-19.
More than a third of recalls were due to undeclared allergens, closely followed by microbial contamination fears.
Foreign matter, such as metal, plastic and glass accounted for one in eight recalls, Food Standards Australia New Zealand data shows.
Maria Said, Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia CEO, said that while some manufacturers and importers were doing their best, others needed to lift their game and better understand their responsibilities.
“Small and medium-sized players have a long way to go,” she said.
“We report reactions every week. They range from mild reactions such as hives and swelling, right through to potentially life-threatening reactions requiring adrenaline.”
Of particular concern were recalls of vegan foods that had been specifically marketed as free from milk and egg.
Peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, sesame seeds, fish, shellfish, soy, wheat and lupin must be declared on packaged food labels whenever they are present as ingredients or as components of food additives or processing aids.
FSANZ is working on a proposal to make allergen labelling requirements clearer.
Customer complaints have triggered most allergen-related recalls in the last three years.
Packaging errors are the main problem. Examples of mistakes include a product packed in the wrong packaging, or a ‘dairy free’ instead of ‘gluten free’ claim on the front.
Other problems include “supplier verification issues” such as raw ingredient detail not being passed on to a manufacturer; accidental cross-contamination; and lack of knowledge about label requirements.
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Food is recalled after a report or complaint from manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, government or consumers. It might also result from a business’s own testing and auditing.
The strawberry needle-tampering crisis was among the highest-profile cases in the past year.
Hundreds of thousands of eggs across the country were also recalled amid salmonella contamination concerns.
A listeria scare prompted a national recall of various frozen vegetables imported from Europe, and some major milk brands were the subject of e.coli contamination fears.